Pokémon Yellow - featuring Me!
by WileE2005
Summary: A fanfic based off my experiences playing "Pokémon Yellow," with a bit of FireRed thrown in, featuring me and my brother and a few real-life friends. While it mostly follows the gameplay of Yellow, it's also in the same continuity as the original anime series and has some of the same characters, most notably Jessie and James.
1. Hey Pikachu!

**POKEMON YELLOW – DAN VERSION!**

Prologue:

You are about to meet and explore the world of Pokémon. There are several characters that accompany these tales of adventures, perils, laughs, and more…

**OUR HEROES**

DANNY

A 10-year-old boy striving to be one of the best Pokémon trainers in the world!

BILLY

Danny's brother whom also wants to be a great Pokémon trainer.

PIKACHU

The star. Danny and Billy each have their own Pikachu, and are the most capricious, but cutest Pokémon partner they can have.

SQUIRTLE

Billy's starter Pokémon from Professor Oak. He managed to get his a week after Danny started his journey.

**THE HUMANS**

MISTY

A 10-year-old trainer who seems to be an expert with water Pokémon.

BROCK

A rock Pokémon expert and the leader of Pewter City Gym, with a weakness for girls.

GARY

Gary always seems to have accomplished more than Billy.

MAY

Gary's sister, who Billy secretly has a crush on.

BUTT

Gary's same-age cousin, and Danny's biggest rival.

DAISY

Butt's older sister, who usually minds the house.

PROFESSOR OAK

A leading Pokémon expert and inventor of the Pokédex. The grandfather of Gary and Butt.

BILL

A top Pokémon researcher, inventor of the online Pokémon storage system.

JOHNATHAN

Another Pallet Town trainer, friends of Danny and Billy.

STEFAN

Yet another trainer who started at Pallet Town, also friends of Danny and Billy.

DAISY, VIOLET AND LILY

The sisters of Cerulean City, all three are beautiful Pokémon gym leaders!

LT. SURGE

A tough-as-nails master of electric Pokémon, and the leader of the Vermillion City Gym.

ERIKA

Perfume and flower expert, along with being Celadon City Gym leader!

SABRINA

The Saffron City Gym leader and a master of psychic Pokémon.

**THE POKÉMON**

PIDGEY

The first Pokémon Billy and Squirtle ever captured.

PIDGEOTTO

Evolved form of Pidgey, it has a vicious sand attack.

CATERPIE, METAPOD AND BUTTERFREE

The fastest-evolving Pokémon in the Pokémon world.

EEVEE

A mysterious Pokémon whom is affected by different evolution stones. Butt's starting Pokémon from Professor Oak.

BULBASAUR

Has a seed growing on its back. Jonathan's starter Pokémon.

MANKEY

An agile Pokémon with a short temper.

CLEFAIRY

A very rare Pokémon with the mysterious Metronome attack.

Chapter One:

Hey Pikachu! 

Danny was playing with his Pokémon toys. He was make-believing he was battling Pokémon in a gym. He was excited because he finally got his Pokémon Trainers license, and he would be getting his first Pokémon the next morning! Danny picked up what looked like a Voltorb figure, and shouted, "Pokeball, go!"

A voice then interrupted, "Danny!" It was his mom. She caught the Voltorb figure, which was actually a clock. It opened to reveal the clock face, which read that it was 9:30 PM. "You should get ready for bed. Tomorrow is a big day!"

"You're right," Danny sighed. He was already in his pajamas. He set his Voltorb clock on his nightstand, climbed into bed and snuggled up with his toy Bulbasaur.

He learned that in the morning, he would go over to the lab of Professor Oak, the world's ultimate authority. His laboratory was not too far from their house. Danny lived with his mother and little brother in Pallet Town. Professor Oak had three Pokémon ready for trainers: Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. Danny didn't know what to choose! He fell asleep, dreaming all night about Pokémon.

…

It was now morning. At Professor Oak's lab, a Dodrio crowed like a rooster. Danny was holding the Voltorb clock in his hand. He was muttering in his sleep as he was dreaming about a gym battle. He then shouted, "GO, ODDISH!" and threw the Voltorb. It slammed against the wall with a loud crashing sound and fell to the ground, broken! The noise of the crash woke Danny up. "Oh no! I broke my clock! And it looks like I slept in!" He quickly got dressed, brushed his teeth, and put on his favorite baseball-style cap over his long blond hair, red and white with a small red shield resembling a Pokéball on it' front side. He withdrew a Potion he was saving in his PC for the day and ran downstairs and met up his mom.

"I'm going over to Professor Oak's lab to get my Pokémon!" he said excitedly.

"Yes, that is right. All boys leave someday. It said so on TV," Danny's mom said. "Professor Oak, next door, is looking for you."

Then Danny took a look at the TV in the living room, showing some kind of film. "There's a movie on TV," Danny said to himself. "Four boys are walking on railroad tracks. I'd better go, too." Then he ran out the front door.

Danny ran down the road a bit, across the street (but he looked both ways) and into Professor Oak's laboratory. Standing there was Danny's childhood rival, Butt Oak. Butt was Professor Oak's grandson.

"Excuse me!" Danny said, pushing through a couple of people in the lab.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Butt shouted in his nasally voice. "Well, if it isn't Danny!"

"Butt? What are you doing here?" Danny asked.

"MISTER Butt to you," Butt sneered. "Show some respect! Well, it looks like we're both late. Gramps isn't around. I ran here cos' he said he had a Pokémon for me!"

Danny said, "Well, I'm gonna go find him!" He zoomed out of the lab and went over to the roadway out of Pallet Town. There was tall grass ahead.

"Hey, wait!" a voice shouted. "Don't go out!"

It was Professor Oak. He caught up to Danny and said, "That was close. Wild Pokémon live in tall grass."

But then, at that moment, a wild Pikachu popped out of the bushes. It shouted, "Pika!"

"Not another Pikachu," Oak said to himself. "Stand back!" He threw a Pokeball at the Pikachu and captured it. "Whew…" Then he told Danny, "A Pokémon can appear at any time in tall grass. You need your own Pokémon for protection… I know! Here, come with me!" Danny followed Professor Oak back into the lab. They opened the door and stepped in.

Butt shouted at Oak, "Hey Gramps! I'm fed up with waiting!"

"Butt? What are you already doing here?" Oak asked. "I thought said for you to come by later… ah, whatever! Just wait there." He turned to Danny and began, "Over here, Danny, I keep my Pokémon for new Trainers. See for yourself." He pushed a button and a small platform rose on a machine. It held three Pokeballs with symbols on them.

"I thought about it for some time, but I think I will choose… Bulbasaur!" He grabbed the Pokeball with the leaf on it and opened it. But it was empty!

Professor Oak said, "Already taken by someone who was on time."

"Nuts… I guess I'll go with Squirtle!" Danny opened the Pokeball with a water drop on it. That one was empty, too!

"That one was also taken," Oak explained.

"Well, then I'll take Charmander!" Danny was determined to have a Pokémon! He grabbed the last Pokeball, the one with a flame symbol on it. And of course, it was empty. "Darn it!"

Oak said, "The early bird gets the worm… or in this case, the Pokémon!"

Butt was fuming. He was just as disappointed as Danny.

"Does this mean all of them are gone?" Danny said, sounding a bit upset.

"Well, there is still one left for you." Professor Oak pushed another button and yet another Pokeball rose from the platform. "You may have it. Go on, take it!"

"Hey, Gramps!" Butt butted in. (Good pun, huh?) "What about me?"

Oak said, "Be patient, Butt. I'll give you one later."

Danny went over to get the Pokeball, but Butt raced ahead of him and swiped it from him! "No way, Danny! I want this Pokémon!"

"Hey! I wanted that Pokémon!" As always, Danny was furious with Butt.

"Butt, what are you doing?" Professor Oak asked Butt.

Butt said excitedly, "Hey Gramps! I want this one!"

"Oh, all right. I was going to give you one anyway…" He then motioned Danny to come over. "Danny, come here. This is the Pokémon I caught earlier" He held up the Pokéball he used earlier to catch Pikachu. "You can have it. I caught it in the wild and it is not tame yet, I must say."

Danny was anxious. "I HAVE to have a Pokémon!"

Oak handed the Pokéball over to Danny and said, "Well in that case, don't say I didn't warn you!"

The Pokéball opened, and bright lights flashed on and off, and when the lights faded, the Pikachu from earlier was standing next to Danny. "Pika-pi?"

"Its name is Pikachu," Oak explained.

Danny was pleased. "Oh, it's so cute! It's the best of all!" He picked up the Pokémon and said, "Hi, Pikachu!" But then the Pikachu began electrocuting Danny, who yelled, "YOWWWWW! IT HURTS!" Pikachu then stopped shocking Danny.

"It's usually known as the 'electric mouse,'" Professor Oak said, "It's usually shy, but it can sometimes have an electrifying personality!"

"I see what you mean…" Danny said, lying on the ground. He then got up and prepared to leave the lab, but Butt stopped him.

"Wait, Danny! Let's check out our Pokémon! Come on, I'll take you on." And so, before Danny knew it, he was in a Pokémon battle with his rival! "Go, Eevee!" Butt threw his Pokeball, and an Eevee popped out.

"You got an EEVEE?" Danny was surprised. "Well, Pikachu, go battle!"

Pikachu sent a small electric jolt at Danny, and then went into battle.

It was a bitter struggle, for Pikachu only knew Thundershock and Growl, and Eevee only knew Tackle and Tail Whip. But Pikachu eventually defeated its foe and learned Tail Whip itself!

"YES!" Danny shouted. "I won my first Pokémon trainer battle!"

"What?" Butt was shocked. "Unbelievable! I picked the wrong Pokémon. OK, I'll make my Pokémon fight to toughen it up! Danny, Gramps, smell ya later!" He left with a big grin on his face.

"Jerk," Danny muttered to himself. Then he said to his new Pokémon, "Pikachu, return to your Pokéball!"

"Pika!"

"What?" Professor Oak was surprised. "Would you look at that? It's odd, but it appears that your Pikachu dislikes Pokéballs! You should just keep it with you, let it follow you around. That should make it happy! You can talk to it and see how it feels about you."

"OK." Danny then turned to Pikachu and said, "So Pikachu, how ya doing?"

"Pika…" Pikachu wasn't really happy to see Danny.

Danny then exited the lab. Pikachu and Professor Oak followed him. A whole crowd was out there. His mom stepped out. "Oh, Danny, I am so proud of you! I brought all your things, including your sneakers and jeans, nice clean shirts and underwear, and your favorite snacks and some hot chocolate for those cold days but be careful not to burn yourself! And a pair of rubber gloves to do your laundry and a new clothesline to hang it out to dry, and your favorite books and magazines and some money to take care of yourself and… say, is that your Pokémon?" She looked at Pikachu.

"Yep! I am so happy!" Danny was pleased.

"But it looks a little… weird," Danny's mom said.

Pikachu didn't like that insult. It growled, and then began shocking Danny and his mom!

"Those rubber gloves your mom packed will come in handy," Professor Oak shouted over the electrical noise.

"OUUUUUUUUUCH! WHY?" Danny screamed painfully.

Oak explained, "Rubber blocks electricity!"

Danny shouted, "GREAT! OHHH, I CAN'T STAND IT!"

Pikachu finally stopped zapping Danny and his mom, whom both collapsed on the ground.

…

Danny got on his rubber gloves and ties the clothesline around his Pikachu as a leash. As he left Pallet Town, he noticed a dark-haired boy in pajamas running down the road. He was saying, "Squirtle… Bulbasaur… Charmander… one of them's fine. Just save one for me!"

A bit later, Danny continued traveling down Route 1. He was still dragging Pikachu behind him on the clothesline. "Pikachu, are you gonna be like this the whole way?"

Pikachu said, "Pikachu."

"Well, Pikachu," he told his new Pokémon, "why don't you open your mouth and tell me what's wrong?"

Pikachu opened its mouth. In classic Anime fashion, a small picture of its open mouth appeared above Pikachu, and then disappeared.

Danny shook his head and said, "That's not what I mean. Man, I sure wish I could understand the Pokémon language. Well, would it help if I got rid of the leash?" He untied the clothesline from around Pikachu and took off the rubber gloves. "There. Is that better?"

"Pika…" the Pokémon replied.

Danny and Pikachu continued traveling through Route One and got past some Pidgey and Rattata. Eventually, they made it to Viridian City. Pikachu's health was fine, but Danny needed to get some Pokéballs and other supplies. He went over to the Pokémon Mart, and then the clerk behind the desk said, "Hey, you come from Pallet Town?"

"Yeah… why do you ask?" Danny was puzzled.

"You know Professor Oak, right? His order came in. Will you take it to him?" the shopkeeper asked Danny.

"Sure, OK."

As the shopkeeper handed the package to Danny, he said, "OK, say hi to Professor Oak for me!"

"Yeah, sure," Danny said, leaving the mart.

…

Danny returned to Pallet Town yet again. He went over to Professor Oak's lab and rang the bell. "Come in." Danny entered, and greeted Professor Oak. "Ah, hello, Danny! How is my old Pokémon?" Pikachu forced a big phony smile, pleasing Oak. "Well, it seems to like you a lot. You must be talented as a Pokémon trainer!"

"I guess I am," Danny said. "But the real reason I came here is this…" He held up the package.

"What? You have something for me?" Oak opened the box and took out a Pokéball that was colored green and yellow. "Ah! This is the custom Pokéball I ordered. Thank you! By the way, I must ask you to do something for me."

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out. "GRAMPS!" Butt ran into the lab. "Gramps, my Pokémon has grown stronger! Check it out"

"Ah, Butt. Good timing! Oh, right! I needed to ask both of you to do something for me," Professor Oak said. "On the desk there is my latest invention, the Pokédex! It automatically records data on Pokémon you've seen or caught. It's a high-tech encyclopedia! Danny, Butt, take these with you!" He handed them the Pokédexes. "They are both code-named 'Dexter,'" Oak explained. "They also contain your Pokémon trainer licenses and ID data. You see, to make a complete guide on all the Pokémon in the world… that was my dream! But I'm too old! I can't do it!" he said sadly. "So, I want you to fulfill my dream for me. Get moving, you two! This is a great undertaking in Pokémon history!" 

"But wait," Danny said. "That official Pokémon handbook you wrote has a lot of data on all the Pokémon. Why the Pokédex?" He held up his copy of the book as he said this.

"Printed information sometimes isn't enough," Professor Oak explained. "I always figured a small pocket-sized computer containing all information there is to know about Pokémon would be handier. Plus, it should contain more information than that handbook and other similar printed material!"

"Alright Gramps! Leave it all to me!" Butt boasted. "Danny, I hate to say it, but I don't need you. I know! I'll borrow a town map from my sis! I'll tell her not to lend you one, Danny! Ha-ha-ha!" He then ran out of the lab, laughing.

Danny decided he needed a map. As he walked over to Butt's house, he talked with Pikachu. "So, Pikachu, why don't you want to get in your Pokéball? The Pokédex must have something about it." He got it out and began pushing some buttons. "Ah, here we go!"

A robotic voice on the Pokédex said, "While being trained, a Pokémon usually stays inside its Pokéball." A picture of a Pokéball appeared on the screen on the device. But then Pikachu pushed another button on the Pokédex, and it continued, "However, there are many exceptions. Several types of Pokémon hate being confined."

"Ah, I see," Danny said. "Well, off to Viridian City again!"

…

Danny rang the doorbell to Butt's house. His teenage sister, Daisy, answered. "Oh, hi, Danny. How are you doing?"

"Great. Professor Oak sent me on a Pokémon journey! I'm going to be a Pokémon master!" Danny said.

Daisy then said, "Grandpa asked you to run an errand? Here, this will help you." She handed him a town map.

"Thanks!" Danny was excited. "Now, Pikachu, let's go!"

…

And once again, off they were to Viridian City. Once Danny got there, his Pikachu looked a little tired. "You know," he said to himself, "I once heard that there were Pokémon Centers to heal tired or injured Pokémon. I think there's one nearby…" He walked on until he finally got to the Pokémon Center. It was an interesting building. It was dome-shaped, and it had a bunch of glass windows on the top. Danny heard thunder rumbling. A storm was approaching! "Pikachu, we'd better go inside to take shelter from the rain." They went in.

The Pokémon Center was a really nice-looking place. There were some cushioned benches and plenty of telephones. On the second story were some cots for Pokémon trainers to rest at, along with a cable club room. A computer was at one end of the center, and there was a desk with a woman wearing a white nurse's outfit and hat with a red cross on it and she had long red hair hanging in circular braids. A Chansey with a nurse hat stood next to the woman. Danny went over to the desk with the nurse. "Excuse me…" he began.

"Hello! Welcome to our Pokémon Center. We heal your Pokémon back to perfect health. I am the nurse here. Call me Joy. Shall I heal your Pokémon?"

"Uh, yes, please." Danny handed her his Pikachu.

Nurse Joy took the Pikachu and said, "OK, I'll need your Pokémon." She and the Chansey went into a room with the Pikachu. A door closed; it was white with a red cross on it. An LED sign with a white vaccination needle on a red background lit up. Danny paced a bit. 30 seconds later, the sign went out, and Nurse Joy exited the room with Pikachu, whom was feeling much better now. "Thank you. Your Pokémon are fighting fit!" She smiled and said, "We hope to see you again."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Danny said. A crack of thunder pierced the air! Rain began pouring outside. Danny then told Joy, "Looks like I'm not going anywhere for a while. Guess I'll call Mom."

He went over to a telephone and prepared to dial. But then, an announcement came over the PA systems. "ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF VIRIDIAN CITY! We have reports of Pokémon poachers in the vicinity! Be on the lookout for suspicious strangers!"

Danny looked concerned. "That doesn't sound good…" he said. "Come on, Pikachu. Let's go to the Pokémon Mart and buy some supplies!" He went there and bought plenty of Pokéballs, antidotes, potions and paralyze heals, then waited the storm out there. "Now I am ready for anything!"

Pikachu smiled at him. "Pi, Pikachu!"

"Now it's off to Viridian Forest!" Danny shouted out.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. The New Pokémon!

**POKEMON**

Chapter Two:

The New Pokémon!

The storm had subsided. The sun would be setting in a few hours. But Danny was determined to get to catch some Pokémon! He stopped as an old man jumped in front of him. He said, "Ah, I've had my coffee now and I feel great! Sure you can go through! I'm sorry I was so rude to you."

"How were you rude to me?" Danny asked the old man. He didn't know him at all.

The old man continued, "I see you're using a Pokédex. I'll show you how to catch Pokémon as my apology." Then a Rattata ran into the scene! The old man got out a Pokéball and tossed it over. But unfortunately, after a few wiggles, the Pokéball opened and disintegrated, and the Rattata ran away! The old man then explained, "That didn't work! I must be losing my touch. I've run out of Pokéballs, too I have to get some at the Mart." He ran off.

A woman standing there said, "Oh, you have a Pikachu?"

"Yeah," Danny said.

"I thought beginners normally chose Bulbasaur or Charmander as their first Pokémon. Pikachu are too hard to handle. You must be some kind of prodigy!"

Danny began, "Well, I, uh…"

"Don't let him fool you!" a voice rang out.

"I know that voice," Danny grumbled, "It's Butt."

"They may be rare around here," Butt began, as he rode in on a bicycle, "but you can find some Pikachu around Pallet Town. And he didn't choose ANYTHING. Gramps just GAVE him the Pokémon."

"Say what you want," Danny said, trying to sound boastful, "but your Eevee can't hold a candle to my Pikachu!"

Pikachu looked offended by that, and sent a quick jolt at Danny.

"Once you tame it, that is," Butt pointed out. "Pokémon trainers are judged by the number of wild Pokémon they catch and raise on their journey," he explained. "No matter how good any Pokémon is, it's still just ONE."

Danny was shocked when he saw Butt's belt. "I can't believe it!" he said. "You already have TWO Pokéballs?"

"And what about YOU, Danny?" Butt asked teasingly. "How many Pokémon have YOU got?"

Danny held up Pikachu, whom was now smiling a bit. "… Just this one."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Butt laughed. "Well then I wish you the BEST of luck!" He cycled off.

"Grr…" Danny growled. "That Butt makes me MAD! We're gonna show him! Right, Pikachu?!"

Pikachu smiled, "Pikachu!"

"Now finally, OFF TO VIRIDIAN FOREST!" He and Pikachu ran off.

…

Danny and Pikachu went through the entrance. He knew that the forest was practically a natural maze. But he was sure he could find his way out. There were two reasons they were to visit Viridian Forest. The first reason was to catch some new Pokémon, and the second reason was because Pewter City was on the other side. Danny began walking through the tall grass, in hopes to find a wild Pokémon other than Pidgey and Rattata. It wasn't long until he came across a little green wormlike Pokémon with big eyes and a pink feeler.

"Wow! It's a Caterpie!" Danny was pleased. "We can catch this! Pikachu, use your Thundershock, but not so strong to knock it out!"

"Pika," Pikachu agreed. Then it powered up and let off a semi-powerful electric charge. The Caterpie was dazed a bit, but looked capable of continuing to battle.

Danny held up one of the Pokéballs he bought. "Now for the moment of truth," he said, and then he threw the ball toward the Pokémon. "Pokéball, GO!" The ball flew over to Caterpie, opened up, and then in a flash of red light, Caterpie was scooped up into the ball. The Pokéball then wiggled a few times, and eventually ceased vibrating. Caterpie was caught!

"I DID IT!" Danny shouted victoriously! "I captured my very first Pokémon! Great job, Pikachu!" But by now, Pikachu was a little weak, though he was still smiling, so Danny knew he had to go back to the Pokémon Center to heal both of his partners.

…

After a quick trip to the Pokémon Center, Danny and his Pokémon were feeling pretty hungry. They found a nice little restaurant not too far from the Center. They ordered some dinner. Danny got two orders of tomato soup, one for him, and one for Pikachu. Caterpie preferred a salad. Pikachu really loved his soup. Danny chuckled and said, "It sure beats eating swiss cheese, doesn't it?"

Pikachu gave Danny an odd look.

Danny said, "You know, I think Professor Oak said that if you catch a Pokémon, the Pokédex already registers data on that creature. Let's see if that is true." Danny opened his Pokédex and pointed it at Caterpie.

The Pokédex said, "Caterpie. The wormlike Pokémon. If you touch the feeler on top of its head, it will release a horrible stink to protect itself. Caterpie loves eating leaves and other foliage. As a result, it is a pest to gardeners."

"Well, I'll keep it away from gardens, then!" Danny laughed. "Let's go look for more Pokémon."

…

Not too far from Viridian City was a small patch of tall grass. This was Route 22. Danny knew that up the road was some high-level Pokémon, as well as the Pokémon League entrance. According to his Pokémon handbook, he knew that he had to defeat eight gym leaders and collect their badges in order to enter the league. So he decided to hunt around for Pokémon in the first patch of tall grass only. After coming across some Nidoran, which he wasn't interested in, a wild Mankey sprung out in front of them!

"Wow! A Mankey! I'm gonna capture THAT! Pikachu, do your stuff!" Danny commanded. Pikachu went out into the battle. After several hits of the Thundershock, Mankey's health was weakened a bit, but not enough to make it faint. This was it. "Mankey, you're MINE!" Danny threw a Pokéball at the Mankey, and watched, as it seemed to capture Mankey. Then the Pokéball wiggled a bit, and then eventually stopped. Danny knew what that meant.

Danny jumped up, shouting, "YEAH! I CAUGHT ANOTHER POKEMON! Welcome to the team, Mankey!" Pikachu was dancing happily.

Danny pulled out the Pokédex once again. "Mankey," Dexter said. "An agile Pokémon that lives in trees. It angers easily and will not hesitate to attack anything."

Danny said, "That's good to know. But I'd like to see most novice trainers top THAT! Now, back to Viridian Forest, and on to Pewter City!"

…

After giving Mankey a potion, the Pokémon was as good as new. They were about to leave, until a siren started blaring on the outdoor loudspeakers in Viridian City. Officer Jenny's voice loudly echoed, "YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE! Viridian City radar has detected an aircraft belonging to a gang of Pokémon poachers. If you have Pokémon in your possession, exercise extreme caution. Repeat, exercise extreme caution!"

Danny was nervous. "Whoever they are, those poachers will NEVER get my Pokémon!" He ran out of Viridian City as fast as he could. Danny said, "It will soon be late. Good thing Mom packed my sleeping bag. We can camp out in Viridian Forest for the night."

…

Once Danny was in Viridian Forest, he came across a boy wearing a big hat. He stopped Danny, and shouted, "Hey! You have Pokémon! Come on! Let's battle 'em"

"WHAT?" Danny was surprised.

The two trainers got into battle position. The boy (who was a bug catcher) explained, "In a Pokémon trainer battle, you have your Pokémon fight each other. The trainer that can knock out the other's Pokémon wins. So, I CHOOSE CATERPIE!" He tossed out his Pokéball and a Caterpie came out.

"A Caterpie?" Danny was even more surprised. "Well, Pikachu, go!"

It was another bitter struggle, but Danny was able to defeat the bug catcher's two Caterpie. Pikachu was able to lower the first Caterpie's defense with its' tail whip to make it easier to Thundershock it down. Then Danny's own Caterpie was able to take down the second after some effort. Then the bug catcher said, "No! Caterpie can't cut it!"

"Great job, guys!" Danny congratulated his Pokémon, and then said, "Ew, Caterpie, you're shedding your skin!"

This was true. Caterpie molted right out of his old skin, revealing new skin underneath that looked just like the old one. Then the wormlike Pokémon began to eat his old molted skin!

The bug catcher explained, "Caterpies always shed their skins as they grow stronger, and so do Weedles."

After exploring a bit, they came across another Pokémon trainer to battle. "Yo!" the Bug Catcher said, "You can't jam out if you're a Pokémon trainer!" This time, he had a Caterpie and two Metapods. But Danny's Pikachu, as well as his Mankey and Caterpie, helped defeat this bug catcher's Pokémon.

"Huh? I ran out of Pokémon!" the Bug Catcher exclaimed after his Pokémon were all knocked out.

Danny said, "You guys are really good battlers! Huh?" Caterpie was now shooting string on itself and shedding its skin again. "Wow! You must be evolving!" Once Caterpie was completely covered in the silk and its old skin split away, a Metapod was in its place. It opened its eyes and looked at Danny.

"Hey! It evolved into a Metapod!" Danny was impressed. He got out Dexter again, and opened it.

The Pokédex explained, "Metapod. The cocoon Pokémon. Caterpie's next stage. It hardens its shell to protect itself. However, a large impact may cause it to pop out of its shell."

"I'll protect this Metapod carefully!" Danny then picked up the new cocoon Pokémon and said, "Welcome to the team, Metapod."

Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the forest. Danny saw through the trees where it came from. The Viridian City Pokémon Center was blowing up! "Well," Danny said, "it looks like there's no way to heal my Pokémon without potions and antidotes and stuff like that, until I get to Pewter City."

By now, it was past 10:00 at night. So Danny got out the sleeping bag and he turned in for the night. His Pikachu slept right near him, and Danny let his Metapod and Mankey sleep outside of their Pokéballs, too.

…

The next morning, it was nice and clear out. "Well, it's a nice day," Danny told his Pikachu. He then decided to look for more unusual Pokémon. He battled a couple other trainers and mostly came across wild Pidgey, Caterpie and Metapod. But then, a Pidgeotto flew into his path!

Danny was pleasantly surprised. "Wow, a Pidgeotto! Let's catch that! Pikachu, Thundershock!"

Pikachu shocked the bird Pokémon a couple of times, but it was still up and able to battle a bit. Danny then got out his Pokéball, and tossed it at the Pidgeotto. It sucked in the Pokémon, vibrated a bit and stopped.

"All right! I just started my journey yesterday, and I've already got FOUR Pokémon at the start of day two!" Danny was really happy. "Now to check Dexter again…"

Once again, Danny got out his Pokédex, and it explained, "Pidgeotto. The evolved form of the Pidgey. This Pokémon is full of vitality. It constantly flies around its large territory in search of prey. Please approach and handle Pidgeotto with extreme caution."

Danny then nicknamed it "Pidgo," after its' cry. "Well, guys," Danny told his Pokémon, "it looks like we're almost out of Viridian Forest."

…

They battled a few more trainers along the way out. Now he was battling the last trainer before leaving the forest. His Metapod was up against the Bug Catcher's Caterpie. Metapod was able to harden, raising its defense, as well as use its original Tackle and String Shot attacks. It successfully defeated its opponent. The trainer said, "I give! You're good at this."

"Yeah!" Danny was excited. But then Metapod began to glow. Danny picked it up. "Metapod, what's going on?" Suddenly, there was a bright flash! Butterfree emerged from the old Metapod shell. It had evolved again! Danny gasped in delight.

The Butterfree was stretching its wings out, flapping them a bit.

Danny got his Pokédex out again. It told him, "Butterfree. The evolved form of Metapod. Its wings, covered with poisonous powders, repel water. This allows it to fly in the rain."

"Wow! I got a Butterfree!" Danny was even more excited! "And look! There's the exit to Viridian Forest! Let's blow this place!"

And so they did. Danny had recalled all of his Pokémon to their Pokéballs, except for Pikachu.

…

After leaving Viridian Forest and part of Route 2, Danny found some buildings up ahead! This was Pewter City! Danny entered happily and decided to check things out. First, he went over to the Pokémon Center. Inside…

"Hi! Welcome to our Pokémon Center!" A woman with red hair and braids and a nurse's outfit greeted him at the desk. She also had a Chansey with her.

"Nurse Joy?" Danny was puzzled. "I thought there was one in Viridian City…"

This Nurse Joy explained, "The Joy in Viridian City is my little sister. She said nice things about you. Shall I heal your Pokémon?"

Danny blushed at the comment that the Viridian City Nurse Joy said nice things about him and said, "Yes, miss." While waiting a bit, Danny saw a poster. It had a picture of a hand holding a Pokéball, and little symbols representing the different Pokémon types were around the ball. Above it, a banner read "POKEMON LEAGUE COMPETITION! Today's Winners – Tomorrow's Masters." It also had some information about it. "Wow! The Pokémon League! Just like the handbook mentioned. I think I'll take that Gym Leader challenge thing and enter!"

A chime sounded, and Nurse Joy handed over the tray with Pikachu and Danny's Pokéballs on it. "Well, Danny… no more waiting! Your Pokémon are now fighting fit."

Danny saw a Jigglypuff Pokémon. Danny said hi to it. The Jigglypuff started singing. "Ji… gully-puff… jiggly… ee-ee-puff…"

"Wow. Jigglypuff has a beautiful voice!" Danny was impressed.

A trainer standing next to the Jigglypuff yawned and said, "When Jigglypuff sings, Pokémon get drowsy… me too…" and he fell asleep.

Danny began to walk off to get some more items, but he noticed Pikachu wasn't following him. The mouse Pokémon was still standing next to the Jigglypuff.

"It looks very content asleep," Nurse Joy reported.

Danny then walked over to Pikachu and began gently pushing the sleeping Pokémon. "Cha…" it sighed in its sleep. But then it woke up. "Pi?"

"Pikachu, you can't fall asleep on the job!" Danny laughed. "We need to stock up and prepare for our first gym battle!"

As he left the Pokémon Center, a man told him, "There aren't many serious Pokémon trainers here! They're all like bug catchers, but Pewter City Gym's leader Brock is totally into it!"

"Cool!" Danny smiled.

Later, Danny stocked up on some more supplies at the Pokémon Mart. Along the way to the gym he saw a big building. A sign read, "PEWTER MUSEUM OF SCIENCE." Danny was impressed. "Hey! I remember this science museum! I used to go here all the time as a kid! I wonder if it has changed in years…"

Danny entered the museum. A man at a desk said, "Yes, it's $5.00 for a child's ticket. Would you like to come in?"

"You bet!" Danny smiled.

As Danny paid, the man said, "Right, $5.00! Thank you!"

Danny and Pikachu walked around the exhibits. They saw actual bones and fossils of the extinct Pokémon, including Aerodactyl and Kabutops. An old man standing near them and admiring the Aerodactyl bones said, "That is one magnificent fossil!"

On the second floor, a scientist announced, "We have a space exhibit now."

Up there, Danny saw beautifully colored stones behind a glass case. Danny read the descriptive sign on the case. "Meteorite that fell on Mount Moon." "(Moon Stone?)" someone scribbled underneath.

A boy said, "Moon stone? What's so special about it?"

Danny explained, "I heard they help evolve Nidorina and Nidorino into powerful Pokémon."

"Oh," the boy said. "Once my girl Nidoran becomes a Nidorina, I'll try a moon stone on her."

An old man told the two, "July 20th, 1969! The first lunar landing! I bought a color TV to watch it!"

As Danny walked over to another part of the exhibit, he told Pikachu, "Color TVs were all the rage back in the late 1960s," as if Pikachu could understand him. Danny saw a model of the original Space Shuttle Columbia. Then he saw a little girl and her father. The girl said…

"I want a Pikachu! It's so cute! I asked my Daddy to catch me one!"

The father told Danny, "I'd like to get that Pikachu off you, but it's too attached to you."

"Whew…" Danny said.

…

After visiting the museum, it was off to the Pewter City Gym. Danny was both excited and nervous at the same time. This was going to be his first gym trainer battle!

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Brock and the Rocks

**POKEMON**

Chapter Three:

Brock and the Rocks

Danny and Pikachu looked up at the Pewter City Gym. It was a huge building. Danny said, "Well, here goes nothing." He entered the gym, and met up with a guy in one of the corridors.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, KID!" he yelled at Danny. "You're still light years from facing Brock!"

Danny argued, "No I'm not, he's through those doors."

But the Junior Trainer wouldn't listen, and he wound up battling him anyways. Danny had to rely on his Mankey to defeat the Trainer's Diglett and Sandshrew. But he won. "Darn! Light years isn't time! It measures distance!" the trainer shouted.

"I tried to tell ya," Danny said.

Now Danny was ready to face the Gym Leader. He walked up.

"Gym Leader, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle for the Boulder Badge!" he boldly said.

The Leader introduced himself, "I'm Brock! I'm Pewter's Gym Leader! I believe in rock hard defense and determination. That's why my Pokémon are all the rock-type!" He then eyed Danny's Pikachu and said, "Your Pikachu can't win against me. Electric attacks are NOT effective against the Rock and Ground type!"

Danny proudly said, "That's why I've got THREE other Pokémon to help me defeat you!"

"Fine then!" Brock cried out. "Show me your best!" He pushed a button and a rocky battlefield came out from the walls in front of Danny. "Pokéball, GO!" he then shouted. Out of the Pokéball came a Geodude, a Rock-type Pokémon.

Throwing a Pokéball, Danny shouted "Go, Mankey!" Out came Mankey, and they began to battle.

Mankey's Low Kick was able to take down Geodude in two hits, even with Geodude trying its Defense Curl technique.

"Fine start, for a novice trainer," Brock said, recalling Geodude and getting out another Pokéball. "But you will be no match for my Onix!" He sent out his Onix, which Danny knew was the largest Pokémon to date.

Danny also brought back Mankey, and said, "For a gigantic Pokémon, I shall choose Butterfree!" Then he sent out his butterfly Pokémon.

Butterfree was easily able to defeat Onix by using its Confusion attack. And it was able to fly higher than Onix's height, making it easier to aim. Onix had then fainted! 

"I can't believe I lost," Brock said. "I took you for granted. As proof of your victory, here's the Boulder Badge." He handed it to Danny. "That's an official Pokémon League Badge. Its bearer's Pokémon become more powerful! The technique 'Flash' can now be used anytime, but you'll learn about that later."

Danny couldn't believe it! He got his first Pokémon League badge! This brought him one step closer to becoming a Pokémon master.

Brock also gave him a Technical Machine. It was labeled "TM34." He told Danny, "A Technical Machine, also known as a TM, contains a technique that can be taught to Pokémon! A TM is good only once, so when you use one to teach a new technique, pick the Pokémon carefully! TM34 contains Bide. Your Pokémon will absorb damage in battle, then pay it back double!"

"That's cool," Danny said with a smile.

Brock continued, "There are all kinds of Trainers in the world. Some raise Pokémon for fights. Some see them as pets. I'm in training to become a Pokémon breeder. If you take your Pokémon training seriously, go visit the gym in Cerulean and test your abilities!"

Danny knew where his next stop was among hearing that.

…

So after exchanging contact information with Brock, Danny went back to the Pokémon Center and healed up his team again, bought a few extra supplies, and left for Cerulean City. Brock told him that there was a gym there, too. So he was off on Route 3. He came across quite a few trainers, but he was able to defeat them all. It was mostly Bug Catchers and Youngsters, along with some cute Lasses. One young kid named Ben walked up to Danny, saying "Hi! I like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear!"

"Huh?" Danny asked.

Regardless of the shorts smalltalk, Danny still beat Ben's Ratatta and Ekans.

A little while later, Danny saw a sign that said, "ROUTE 3 – MOUNT MOON AHEAD." Danny heard that the mysterious Clefairy Pokémon lived in Mount Moon. There were also other kinds of Pokémon there that could only be found in caves. He couldn't wait! But first he had to heal his Pokémon again. So he was lucky to find a nearby Pokémon Center near the Mount Moon entrance! Danny went in.

Inside the Pokémon Center, while yet another Nurse Joy was healing his team, Danny came across a strange man. The man said, "Hello there! Have I got a deal just for you! I'll let you have a swell Magikarp for just $500!" He opened a Pokéball and a large orange fish Pokémon began flopping around.

"Why would I want a Magikarp?" Danny asked.

The man told him, "Between you and me, a Magikarp is like a Pokémon gold mine!"

"That's ridiculous."

"No, it's true!" he insisted. "A Magikarp lays a thousand eggs at a time, and each one of the baby Magikarp lays another thousand more, and that makes a million Magikarp. Everyone of those Magikarp then lays another thousand eggs, and doing the math results in having a BILLION POKEMON!"

"A billion?" Danny asked.

"Yes! You can sell each Magikarp for $500, and at three generations you will have tons of money! Billions! Why, you'll be so rich, you won't have a care in the world!"

"Hmm…" Danny was thinking seriously.

The man asked, "And normally you just get the Magikarp for $500, but I'll also throw in an egg-laying kit, childcare kit and training manual for no additional cost! So, what do you say?" 

Danny remembered how weak and useless Magikarp were. "No thanks. I can always catch one when I get a fishing rod."

"No?" the man said. "I'm only doing this as a favor to you!"

By then, Danny's Pokémon were healed, so he was back on his way.

…

Danny entered the dark Mount Moon. For some reason, there were lights strung around the place. He knew that wasn't right at all. But at least he was able to get around. He did run across a few Pokémon trainers, along with a bunch of Zubat and Geodude Pokémon. Danny did catch one of the Zubat and Geodude to add to his collection. But a little later through the trek, he came across an unusual sight…

"Clef… Clefairy!" the pink Pokémon was saying.

"A CLEFAIRY!" Danny said. "That's a Rank-A Pokémon! Maybe that will help our training. Let's catch it!"

Pikachu knew what to do. It used Quick Attack on Clefairy a few times, until the Clefairy was weak enough for Danny to capture in a Pokeball.

Moments later, Danny checked his Pokédex on his new capture.

"Clefairy," Dexter explained. "These impish Pokémon are adored for their cute looks and playfulness. They are thought to be rare, as they do not appear often."

Danny chuckled. "We sure bagged a rare one!" He then treated the Clefairy with potions so it could be fighting fit, and then they were on their way once again.

…

A little while later, Danny saw some men wearing black uniforms, hats and eye masks, with a large red letter "R" on each of their uniforms.

"I think I know what that 'R' stands for…" Danny said.

He and his Pikachu tried to sneak by one of the men, until he noticed Danny. "Hey! Little kids should leave grown-ups alone!"

"I'm NOT little," Danny said. "YOU'RE a Team Rocket member, and you are up to no good." 

"Ain't that the truth?" the Team Rocket grunt said, tossing out his Ratatta. Once again, Pikachu was able to zap the Rocket grunt's Ratatta and Zubat.

"I'm steamed!" the Team Rocket guy said, as Danny and his Pikachu took off.

A little while later, they approached a nerd of some sort with two large prehistoric-looking fossils. "Hey, stop!" the nerd yelled. "I found these fossils. They're both mine!"

The next thing Danny knew, he was in another Pokémon battle. Pikachu was able to beat the nerd's Grimer, but for his Voltorb, Danny had some help from his Mankey. Finally, Butterfree's Confusion attack managed to knock out the nerd's Koffing.

"OK! I'll share!" the nerd said. "We'll each take one! No being greedy!"

Danny rolled his eyes and chose what appeared to be a Dome Fossil. Once he picked that, the nerd chose the Helix Fossil for himself.

"Far away on Cinnabar Island," the nerd explained, "there's a Pokémon lab. They do research on regenerating fossils."

Danny could see he was nearing the exit to Mount Moon. But halfway there, he heard a woman's voice shouting "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Danny turned and saw two more Team Rocket members arrive, except they looked different from the others. Not only did they wear silverish-white Rocket outfits instead of black, and lack the caps and masks, but one of them was also a girl with long red hair, Jessie. The other guy, James, had short purple hair. With them was a catlike Pokémon – a Meowth, Danny recognized.

"That fossil is Team Rocket's!" Jessie said.

"Oh, not more of them!" Danny groaned.

"But not just any Rocket grunts…" James said. As if that were some kind of cue, they began some kind of chant…

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie announced.

"Make it double," James added.

"To protect the world from devastation," Jessie said.

"To unite all peoples within our nation," James said.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie was finishing.

"Surrender now," James added, "or prepare to fight!"

Their Meowth Pokémon jumped in and said, "MEOWTH! That's right!"

"A TALKING Meowth?!" Danny said in total disbelief.

"Not just any talking Meowth," the Pokémon said. "I'm the top cat around here! We're da boss's favorites!" He had a New Yorkese accent to his voice.

Jessie then tossed out a Pokeball. "Go Ekans!"

Danny had his Pikachu battle Jessie's snake Pokémon, and it was a breeze to knock it out, as Danny had battled an Ekans before.

"Now it's Meowth's turn!" Meowth said.

Danny managed to have Mankey beat Meowth. The next thing they knew, Meowth was on the ground, moaning, "Why do I have the feeling this happened before?"

"Because it did," James answered. "Now it's my turn!" He sent out his Koffing, to which Danny's Buterfree managed to beat using it's Confusion attack.

"A brat beat us?" Jessie couldn't believe it.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" the three repeated before running off.

"Well, that's a relief." Danny said to his Pokémon. "And look, there's the exit!"

…

Back in the sunlight, Danny noticed a sign. "Look, this is the way to Cerulean City! And what's this note on the bottom? 'Gary was here. Ash is a loser?' Must be an insult to some other trainer…"

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Meet Bulbasaur, Charmander and Misty!

**POKEMON**

Chapter Four:

Meet Bulbasaur, Charmander and Misty!

Danny and Pikachu had arrived in Cerulean City. They knew from Brock that there was another Pokémon gym here. But first, Danny had to heal his teams at a Pokémon Center. While there, Danny deposited his Zubat and Clefairy into the PC's Pokémon transfer system, sending them to Professor Oak's lab, since he knew he could end up catching more Pokémon in the area.

After that, Danny noticed a small house next to the center. He and Pikachu went in and found an older girl taking care of an Oddish, a Sandshrew and a Bulbasaur. Danny knew Bulbasaur was one of the Pokémon that Professor Oak offered to beginning trainers, and Danny may have gotten one if he wasn't late that morning. But by now, it no longer mattered, as Danny and Pikachu were already becoming good friends!

"I take care of injured Pokémon," the woman explained. "I nursed this Bulbasaur back to health. It needs a good trainer to take care of it now…" She then noticed Pikachu smiling and the Pokéballs on Danny's belt. "I know!" she said. "Would you take good care of this Bulbasaur?"

Danny beamed. "Of course I would! That Bulbasaur would make a great addition to my team of Pokémon friends!"

Bulbasaur looked eager among hearing that. It ran up to Danny and rubbed against his legs.

Danny knew he made another new great Pokémon companion. So he allowed Bulbasaur to be captured into a Pokéball with great ease.

Grinning, the woman said "Please take care of Bulbasaur!"

"I sure will!" Danny happily said.

…

Outside of the house, as he headed up towards a bridge, Danny checked his Pokédex on Bulbasaur…

Dexter said, "Bulbasaur. A seed Pokémon. It can go for days without eating a single morsel. In the bulb on it's back, it stores energy. Bulbasaur are usually difficult to capture in the wild."

Danny just grinned. Pikachu hopped happily. "Pikachu!"

But it wasn't long until they came across Butt Oak once again…

"Yo! Danny!" Butt called out. "You're still struggling along back here? I'm doing great! I caught a bunch of strong and smart Pokémon! Here, let me see what YOU caught, Danny!"

Of course, that meant he wanted to battle him again. However, by this point it was a fairly easy battle. Pikachu was easily able to defeat Butt's Spearow using Thundershock, Bulbasaur took down Butt's Sandshrew with Vine Whip, and Mankey was able to take care of Butt's Ratatta and Eevee with Low Kick.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Butt complained. "You won already! Oh hey, guess what? I went to Bill's and got him to show me his rare Pokémon. That added a lot of pages to my Pokédex! After all, Bill's world famous as a Poké-maniac! He invented the Pokémon Storage System on PC that sends your Pokémon to Gramps's lab back in Pallet Town! Since you're using his system, go thank him!"

This was right. Earlier at the Pokémon Center, Danny had deposited the Clefairy and Zubat he had captured, along with a Geodude that was automatically transported to the lab from Mount Moon.

"Well, I better get rolling!" Butt said. "Smell ya later!" He marched away with his usual sneer.

"Come on, Pikachu," Danny said to his partner. "We're still not gonna let that pain in the Butt beat us, are we?"

"Piii-kaaaa!" Pikachu cheered.

So Danny and his Pokémon began to go up the bridge to meet up with Bill, like Butt told him about. But a bug catcher initially stopped them…

"This is Nugget Bridge! Beat us five trainers and win a fabulous prize! Think you got what it takes?" the boy said.

"Of course I do," Danny said, getting all his Pokémon ready.

The Bug Catcher had a rather powerful Caterpie and Weedle, but Danny's Pikachu and Pidgeotto were able to defeat each.

"Whoo! Good stuff!" the Bug Catcher said.

Then Danny came up to a Lass, who announced, "I'm second! Now it's serious!" She had a Pidgey and a female Nidoran. But Pikachu and Butterfree could easily knock them out. "How could I lose?" the Lass exclaimed.

The next trainer to battle was a youngster who claimed, "Here's number three! I won't be easy!" But Pikachu and Butterfree were able to easily beat the youngster's Ratatta, Ekans and Zubat. "Ow! Stomped flat!" the youngster said after he was defeated.

Another Lass met with Danny and teasingly said, "I'm number four! Getting tired?" But her Pidgey and female Nidoran were no match for Danny's Pikachu and Mankey. "I lost too!" she moaned.

The fifth trainer was a boy in a Boy Scouts uniform (a.k.a. a Camper) with a tough Mankey of his own. Before calling it out, he said "OK, I'm number five! I'll stomp you!" But for Danny, his Butterfree was able to take it down.

"Whoa! Too much!" the camper exclaimed. Then all five trainers said in unison, "I did my best, I have no regrets!"

Finally having crossed the bridge, Danny came across some brown-haired man, stopping him and telling him, "Congratulations! You beat our five contest trainers! You just earned a fabulous prize… this nugget!" He handed Danny a large gold nugget. "By the way," the man continued, "would you like to join Team Rocket?"

"What?" Danny asked.

"We're a group dedicated to evil using Pokémon!" The man explained. "Want to join?"

"No thanks," Danny said, chuckling.

"Are you sure?" the man asked.

"I'm sure."

"Come on, join us!"

"I don't want to!"

"I'm telling you to join!" The man was beginning to sound peeved.

"No!" Danny firmly answered.

"OK, you need convincing!" the man said. "I'll make you an offer you can't refuse!" And with that, he ripped off his clothes to reveal a black Team Rocket uniform underneath! The man then put on a black Rocket Grunt's cap and a black eye mask, completing his ensemble.

Danny gulped. He knew that he was tricked, and in trouble now!

…

But Danny was able to beat the Team Rocket member's Ekans and Zubat with the help of his Butterfree and Pikachu. "Arrgh! You are good!" the Rocket grunt said. "With your ability, you could become a a top leader in Team Rocket! Don't let the opportunity go to waste!"

"Yeah, sure," Danny said, walking off with his Pokémon.

A little ways up, Danny came across some other boy who appeared kind of depressed. "What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"I'm not good at raising Pokémon," the boy said. "I should release my Charmander because I haven't raised it well… If you promise me you'll care for it, it's yours."

Danny smiled. "A Charmander, huh? OK!"

The boy smiled and handed Danny a Pokéball. Danny opened it, and out came a Charmander, looking a little beat up but capable of battling and being a great partner for Danny.

"Take good care of my Charmander!" the boy said.

"OK," Danny said, returning Charmander back to its Pokéball. Then he pulled Dexter out again, to check out about his newest addition to his team of Pokémon…

"Charmander," the Pokédex reported. "A fire Pokémon. The flame at the tip of its tail makes a sound as it burns. You can only hear it in quiet places."

"So far, we're doing great! Welcome to the team, Charmander," Danny said. "Now let's go see Bill!"

…

Along the way, Danny caught an Oddish and a Bellsprout to add to his Pokédex, and battled a few more trainers. Eventually, he found himself outside a large lighthouse with a sea cottage attached. Danny rang the bell, and the voice on the other side said, "Please come in!" sounding a bit tense. So Danny entered.

The first thing he saw was something looking like a strange human/Pokémon hybrid. It looked like it was half-man, half-Rhydon, and only four feet tall. Pikachu scampered right over to the strange creature and asked, "Pika-pika, pikachu?" clearly confused.

"What the heck is up with that?" Danny asked, and he went to investigate too.

"Hiya! I'm a Pokémon!" the creature said. "…no I'm not! Call me Bill! I'm a true blue Poké-maniac! Hey! What's with that skeptical look? I'm not joshing you, I screwed up an experiment and got combined with a Pokémon!"

Danny couldn't believe this. It seemed so unreal.

"So, how about it? Help me out here!" Bill/the Mutant Pokémon said.

"Well, OK," Danny said.

"When I'm in the teleporter," Bill instructed, "go to my PC and run the Cell Separation System!" Then he went into a chamber labeled "1."

Pikachu followed and stood outside of the chamber. "Pikaaa…" he said, obviously perplexed by the whole ordeal.

Danny, also seeming a bit confused, went over to the nearby computer, and initiated the teleporter's cell-separation system. The computer and the teleporter machine made some unusual electronic noises, and after a while, it dinged, and out of the chamber labeled "2," Bill exited back in his human form.

"Pi-PIKACHU!" a shocked Pikachu cried out. He couldn't believe what had just happened!

Danny started laughing, and then Bill joined in as well. "Yee-haw! Thanks bud! I owe you one! So, did you come to see my Pokémon collection?"

"Well, I…" Danny began.

"You didn't?" Bill interrupted. "That's a bummer. I've got to thank you… oh here, maybe this'll do!"

Bill handed Danny a ticket of some sort. Danny checked it out. "A ticket for the St. Anne cruise liner… the famous St. Anne?!"

"Yes," Bill explained. "That cruise ship, the St. Anne, is in Vermillion City this week. Its passengers are all trainers! They invited me to their party, but I can't stand fancy do's. Why don't you go instead of me?"

"I sure will!" Danny said. He then went over to Pikachu, still standing near the teleporter. "Pikachu?"

"Pika-pika, Pikachu?" he asked, still confused by what had happened.

"I know it was indeed confusing," Danny chuckled, "but we have to go battle the Cerulean gym leader, and then it's off to Vermillion City!"

…

Later, after stocking up on supplies and healing his Pokémon, Danny headed for the Cerulean City Gym. He knew this gym specialized in Water Pokémon, and figured it would be a snap, since he had Pikachu and Bulbasaur on hand.

While looking for the leader, a girl in a scout uniform…a picnicker…stopped Danny. "I'm more than good enough for you!" she said. "The Cerulean Sisters can wait!" She sent out her Goldeen to battle, but of course, Pikachu could easily shock it.

"You overwhelmed me!" the picnicker said. "But the Sisters are out right now…"

"HOLD IT!" a girl's voice rang out. "I can handle this!"

A girl, roughly around Danny's age, if not a bit older, approached them. She had orange-y hair, with one end in a side ponytail. "Hi, you're a new face! What's your policy on Pokémon? What is your approach?" She didn't wait for Danny to answer. "My policy is an all-out offensive with water-type Pokémon! Misty, the fourth of the Cerulean Sensational Sisters, is your host!"

The picnicker sneered at Misty. "You mean the three sisters and the runt!"

But Misty growled at her, and that sent the Picnicker running off. "Are you ready, sweetie?" she then asked Dan.

"You're on!" Danny said, blushing. But he still did as he was supposed to.

First, Misty sent out her Staryu. "Hyah!" the starfish-like Pokemon called out.

Sure enough, Pikachu's initial Thundershock attack did some substantial damage, but Staryu could still attack. Its' Water Gun put a damper on Pikachu for a bit, but a second Thundershock caused Staryu to faint.

"Not a bad start," Misty commented. "Now I chose STARMIE!"

"Oonh!" the larger, violet-colored starshape Pokemon cried out among being released from its Pokeball.

"Thundershock, NOW!" Danny ordered.

Starmie tackled after that, but a Thunder Wave from Pikachu managed to paralyze it. After another Thundershock, however, Starmie sent out a bubblebeam that sent Pikachu flying!

"CHAAAAAAAA!" Pikachu cried out as he fainted.

"PIKACHU!" Danny cried out. "Go Bulbasaur!" he sent out his backup Pokémon to finish the job.

Bulbasaur's Vine Whip was able to finish the job. Starmie collapsed in the pool, having fainted!

"YES!" Danny shouted for joy.

"I can't believe I lost!" Misty commented. "All right! You can have the Cascade Badge to show you beat me!"

"Thanks!" Danny said. "Bulbasaur? Now what?!" Bulbasaur's bulb began to glow. Then the whole body glowed white as it grew a bit larger, and the bulb opened to reveal a pink flower bulb underneath after the white glow faded. Bulbasaur had evolved into an Ivysaur!

"Wow!" Danny said. He pulled out his Pokédex once again, and it reported…

"Ivysaur. The seed Pokémon. The evolved form of Bulbasaur. The bulb on its back grows by drawing energy. It gives off an aroma when it is ready to bloom."

Misty handed the Cascade Badge to Danny and explained, "The Cascade Badge makes all Pokémon up to the Thunder level obey. That includes even outsiders! There's more: you can now use Cut anytime! You can cut down small bushes to open new paths! But you'll learn about that in Vermillion City. You can also have my favorite TM!"

So Danny got his badge AND a technical machine of "Bubblebeam" from Misty! After exchanging contact info, Danny headed over to the Pokémon Center and healed up his team, and was on his way once again. But along the way, he saw a female police officer standing next to a house, Jenny. Danny stopped as Officer Jenny explained, "These poor people here were robbed. We're positive that Team Rocket is behind this terrible deed. Even our police force has trouble with Team Rocket!"

Danny looked over and saw behind the house there was a Rocket gang member in the usual black uniform and hat. He decided to investigate, and entered the house. Everything inside was mostly topsy-turvy from the robbery, and a hole was broken into the back wall. A man moaned to Danny, "Those miserable Rockets! Look what they did here! They stole a TM for teaching Pokémon how to dig holes! That cost me a bundle, it did!"

Danny went out the hole and confronted the Team Rocket member. "Why did you do that?!" he said. He was angry.

The Rocket grunt just said, "Hey! Stay out! It's not your yard! … Huh? Me? I'm an innocent bystander! Don't you believe me?"

"Of course not!" Danny said, getting his Pokémon ready.

Sure enough, Danny battled the Rocket grunt. The Team Rocket member's Machop didn't stand a chance against Danny's Pidgeotto, and neither did his Drowzee against Pikachu.

"Stop! I give up! I'll leave quietly!" the Rocket grunt pleaded. "OK! I'll return the TM I stole!" He handed Danny the technical machine. "I better get moving! Bye!" He ran off in a flash.

Danny figured he should return the TM of "Dig" to the man in the house. But when he tried, the owner said, "I figure what's lost is lost! I decided to teach Diglett how to dig without a TM! You can keep that."

"Thanks!" Danny said. Then he and his Pokémon were off to Vermillion City…

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. A Ship of Dreams

**POKEMON**

Chapter Five:

A Ship of Dreams

To get from Cerulean City to Vermillion City, Danny and his Pikachu needed to travel via an Underground Path, as they had seen a sign saying the road through Saffron City was temporarily closed. Danny didn't mind that much, as he knew the third badge he needed to collect would be located in Vermillion City, not Saffron.

Along the way, Danny captured a Jigglypuff and an Abra. The latter was rather tricky, but Danny found the right strategy to do so…

"Butterfree, use sleep powder on it!" Danny ordered.

The Butterfree spread its sleep powder onto Abra, whom began to doze off.

"All right Pikachu," Danny said. "Quick attack!"

Pikachu struck Abra with the blow, but it wasn't enough to knock Abra out. It still looked capable of fighting once it would wake up. But it didn't have the chance to wake up right away…

"Pokéball, go!" Danny called out as he tossed the ball to capture Abra. It was pretty much in the bag. "All right!"

As the Pokéball vanished, automatically being transported to Professor Oak's lab, Danny checked out his Pokédex on his new capture…

"Abra," Dexter explained. "A psychic Pokémon. It sleeps 18 hours a day. If it senses danger, it will teleport itself to safety even as it sleeps."

"Abra sounds almost as sleepy as a Snorlax!" Danny chuckled.

…

After battling a couple more trainers along the route, Danny finally found himself in Vermillion City. The smell of seawater was strong. Everything seemed to have an orange kind of hue, probably due to how the sun was shining. Danny first stopped at the Pokémon Center to heal his Pokémon friends.

Danny noticed a youngster running into the center with a fainted and scorched Pidgey.

"Don't worry Pidgey," the boy cried out. "You'll be OK!"

The Nurse Joy at the desk sighed. "That's the seventeenth time this has happened this month!"

"What's going on?" Danny asked.

While his Pokémon were healing, Joy showed Danny through the emergency room window. He was stunned to see similarly-charred Pokémon all resting with trainers besides them. He noticed a Ratatta, a Mankey, a Spearow, a male Nidoran, and a few other weaker kinds.

"They all lost to Lt. Surge," Nurse Joy explained. "He's the gym leader in Vermillion City." 

Danny gulped. This gym leader seemed pretty tough, compared to Brock and Misty!

A chime sounded. "Sounds like your Pokémon are healed!" Nurse Joy announced.

…

Danny was thinking about the impending battle with Lt. Surge. "Hmm… I know ground Pokémon are strong against electric Pokémon. I COULD use Geodude, but I think it might be easier to catch a Diglett, because it has the ability to use Dig, which can put it at an advantage, not to mention Diglett's Cave being right near here." He now knew what he would do right before battling Lt. Surge.

He then noticed a small shack next to the Pokémon Center, near the coastline. A sign said "FISHING GURU." Danny knocked, and the fisherman inside let him in.

"Ah, hello there," the fisherman said. "I'm the Fishing Guru! I simply LOVE fishing! Tell me young man, do you like to fish?"

"I've always wanted to give it a try," Danny said.

"Grand!" the fisherman said, rubbing his hands in delight. "I like your style! Take this and fish, young one!" He handed Danny an old-looking fishing rod: an Old Rod. "Fishing is a way of life! From the seas to the rivers, go out and land the big one, young one!"

"Thanks!" Danny said as he and Pikachu left.

Danny decided to test the Old Rod on the nearby waters, so he set up and began fishing there. Eventually, the line began being tugged…

"Oh! It's a bite!" Danny said, as he wound up reeling in a Magikarp!

"Karp, karp!" the Magikarp said, flailing around.

"Let's capture it!" Danny said. "Pikachu, Thunder Wave!"

Pikachu did as he was told, paralyzing the Magikarp.

That was it. Danny managed to easily catch the Magikarp, and soon it was on its way to Professor Oak's lab. Danny checked his Pokédex on his new capture…

"Magikarp. The fish Pokémon. Famous for being very unreliable. It can be found swimming in seas, lakes, rivers and shallow puddles."

"At least we managed to bag a Magikarp for free, right Pikachu?" Danny turned to see Pikachu wearing the fishing bucket over himself.

"Pika pika… PIKA!" Pikachu leaped out from the bucket, obviously playing some kind of joke.

Danny laughed. "I don't know what that means, but it was rather funny!"

…

Danny also noticed the Pokémon Fan Club, and decided to check it out. But the moment he entered, his Pikachu scurried over to another trainer's Clefairy. "Pika pikaaaaa!" the lovestruck Pikachu said.

Danny chuckled. "Pikachu's in love!"

He went over to the front, where the club chairman and his female assistant stood. She told Danny, "Our chairman is very vocal about Pokémon. We are about to have a discussion. Care to join?"

Danny looked over and saw his Pikachu still trying to seduce the Clefairy. "Well sure," he said. "Looks like I'll be staying for a bit."

The club chairman came over to Danny and shook his hand. "I chair the Pokémon Fan Club! I have more than 100 Pokémon. I love them all! I'm very fussy when it comes to Pokémon! So… did you come to hear me brag about my Pokémon?" he asked.

"A hundred?" Danny said. "Well, OK!"

"Good!" the chairman said. "Then listen up! My favorite Rapidash… it… cute… lovely… smart… plus… amazing… you think so?"

Danny couldn't really hear that clearly over the crowd talking, though the only voice he could really make out was the chairman's…

"Oh yes… it… stunning… kindly… love it! Hug it when it's sleeping… warm and cuddly… spectacular… ravishing…" Then the chairman's watch beeped. "Oops! Look at the time!" he said to Danny. "I kept you too long! Thanks for hearing me out! I want you to have this!" He handed Danny a bicycle voucher of some sort. "It's a bike voucher, for the Cerulean City cycling shop. Exchange that for a bicycle! Don't worry, my Fearow will fly me anywhere! So, I don't need a bicycle! I hope you like cycling!"

"Thanks," Danny said. "OK Pikachu, let's go!"

But Pikachu was still too romantic with the Clefairy. "Pika pikaaaaa!" he said again.

"Come on Pikachu," Danny said, picking up his Pokémon. "There's plenty of fish in the sea!"

…

Then Danny and Pikachu stopped over at Diglett's Cave. An old man told them, "What a surprise! Digletts dug this long tunnel! It goes right to Viridian City!"

"Wow!" Danny couldn't believe it. However, he did not need to get to Viridian now, as all he needed to do was catch a Diglett. So they trekked around a bit, until a Diglett finally popped up from under the ground. "Diglett-dig!" the small mole Pokémon said.

"Perfect!" Danny said. He sent out his Ivysaur, as he knew sending his Pikachu against Diglett was not a good idea. "Ivysaur, leech seed!" Danny commanded, and Ivysaur seeded Diglett, so a little bit of energy would be drained and transferred to Ivysaur.

Ivysaur also tackled the Diglett a few times, but not enough to make it faint.

"Here goes nothing," Danny said as he pulled out a Pokéball. Then he tossed it while saying "Pokéball, go!" The ball sucked up the Diglett in a blaze of white light, and then it landed on the ground near the hole Diglett was in and wiggled a bit before it eventually stopped.

"All right, we got a Diglett!" Danny said as the Pokéball was automatically transported to Oak's lab. He pulled out his Pokédex again…

"Diglett, the mole Pokémon," Dexter explained in its robotic voice. "It prefers dark places. It spends most of its time underground, though it may pop up in caves."

"Well, let's go heal up," Danny told his Pikachu and Ivysaur, "and then I guess we'll be all set for the Vermillion gym leader!"

…

After healing at the Pokémon Center, on his way out, an old man asked Danny, "Did you see the St. Anne moored in the harbor? There is a Pokémon party going on before it leaves port."

Danny then remembered his ticket. He figured that he might as well check out the St. Anne!

As Danny approached the harbor, he saw another boy arriving, also holding a ticket. "Can you believe this?" the boy said. "I got this free ticket to the St. Anne cruise liner from two dopey teenage girls! And one of them kept saying 'Cool!' a lot."

"I just got mine from a certain Pokémaniac," Danny explained.

Danny was surprised when he saw the actual ship. "Wow… that's so huge!"

"Pika…" his Pikachu agreed.

They went up on the steps to the ship, and met with a bouncer of sorts. "Welcome aboard the St. Anne. Excuse me, do you have a ticket?" Danny showed his ticket. "Great!" the bouncer said. "Welcome to the St. Anne party!"

Danny grinned. This was going to be a fun experience!

…

Once he stepped inside, Danny was amazed by how luxurious the interior of the St. Anne looked. There were trainers and Pokémon everywhere! A crew member told Danny and Pikachu, "The passengers are restless from this long voyage. You may be challenged by the more bored ones!"

Danny could see some trainers showing off their Pokémon to each other. He also saw some kiosks selling Pokémon merchandise. Lots of people were talking. "Come one, come all!" "Oh, it's so cute!"

"Wow," Danny said to his Pikachu, "this is almost like a big Pokémon convention!"

Some woman walked up to Danny and said to him, "Waiter, I would like a cherry pie, please?"

"You must be mistaken," Danny told her. "I'm no waiter!"

Another kid came up and battled Danny, but his Charmander was able to take down the youngster's male Nidoran anyways.

Then Danny and his Pikachu explored the ship some more. They saw a gentleman with a Raticate battling other trainers' Pokémon. They ate a bit from the buffet. Then they explored the ship's kitchen…

"Er-hem!" the largest chef of the group cleared his throat. "Indeed I am le Chef! Le main course is… Salade de Salmon! Les guests may gripe it's fish again, however!" he spoke in his heavy French accent.

Danny's Pikachu made a somewhat disgusted face.

Also in the kitchen, Danny managed to find a Great Ball! "I wonder who threw this away?" he asked himself. "This might come in handy!"

The party was also continuing on the second floor of the ship. Another crew member said to Danny, "This ship, she is a luxury liner for Pokémon trainers of the world! At every port, we hold parties with invited trainers!"

"Like me!" Danny beamed.

Another crew member spoke up. "Our captain is a sword master. He's awesome at using Cut. They say he even teaches Cut to Pokémon!"

"Hmm," Danny said to himself as he continued to walk on with his Pokémon. "I remember Misty telling me about the Cut ability. I think I can obtain it here!"

A man was telling others, "In all my travels, I've never seen a Pokémon sleep like this one! It was something like this!" He presented an image of a Snorlax. Danny knew what this was, due to him researching about Pokémon back in Pallet Town before going on his journey.

Danny overheard a conversation. "The captain said he's awfully sick," a woman told someone. "He was all pale."

But a little while later, Danny wound up coming across his rival once again!

"Bonjour, Danny!" Butt said. "Imagine seeing you here! Danny, were you really invited?"

"Yeah, I…" Danny began.

"So how's your Pokédex coming?" Butt interrupted. "I already caught 40 kinds, pal! Different kinds are everywhere." Danny couldn't help but feel a bit envious of his rival. "Crawl around in grassy areas and look for them. But enough chit-chat. Let's battle!"

So naturally, they had another battle. Danny's Pikachu was able to easily take down Butt's Spearow, while Ivysaur defeated Sandshrew, and Charmander beat Ratatta and Eevee!

"Humph!" Butt said. "At least you're raising your Pokémon." He recalled his fainted Eevee to his Pokéball. "I heard there was a Cut Master on board. But he was just a seasick old man!" Butt made a sour face. "But Cut itself is really useful! You should go see him. Smell ya!" He left with his usual sneer.

"Well, we managed to beat him again, guys!" Danny said to his Pikachu and Charmander.

"Chaaar…" Charmander sighed, but then he suddenly began to glow.

"What's wrong, Charmander?" Danny asked. "Oh boy, you're now evolving too!"

"Chaaaaaa-aaaaaa…" the Pokémon said as its voiced cracked and deepened, like a boy hitting puberty. Its body changed shape and grew a bit larger. As the light faded, Danny noticed the Charmeleon taking his place, with a more red skin, a larger tail, and a noticeable crest on top of its head.

"Chaaar!" Charmeleon said, breathing a bit of fire. But then he turned toward a mirror that just happened to be nearby, and flipped out at the sight of his reflection. "CHAAAR!" he panicked, and began running around in circles, blowing out a few white-hot flames. Luckily, nothing caught fire in this panic attack. "Char-char-char-char-char-char-char!"

"Whoa, take it easy!" Danny tried to calm his Pokémon down. But Charmeleon just jumped back into his Pokéball. "I wonder what that was all about?" Danny said, getting out his Pokédex.

"Charmeleon," Dexter began. "The flame Pokémon. The evolved form of Charmander. Tough fights could excite this Pokémon. When excited, it may blow out bluish-white flames."

"Well, that doesn't explain why it freaked out after evolving," Danny said.

But he didn't have much time to think about it. Danny went over to the captain's quarters, and found the sea captain there, lunging over a wastebasket.

"Ooargh…" the captain moaned. "I feel hideous!" He burped. "Seasick…"

"Hmm," Danny said. He remembered a technique his mother used when he and his brother would be sick. So he tried rubbing the captain's back a few times.

The captain let out an even bigger belch, and turned to Danny, his face not so green anymore. "Whew! Thank you! I feel much better! You want to see my Cut technique? I could show you if I wasn't ill… I know! You can have this! Teach it to your Pokémon and you can see it cut any time!" He handed Danny a hidden technical machine: HM01. "That is a hidden machine," he explained. "It's like a technical machine, but can be used over and over again, unlike conventional TMs." He got up from his seat and stretched out. "Whew! Well, now that I'm not sick anymore, I guess it's time. The St. Anne will set sail soon! Farewell, until our return to Vermillion City!"

Danny knew what that meant. But then he caught a glimpse of inside the wastebasket. "Yuck! Shouldn't have looked!" he said, visibly grossed out. Pikachu looked pretty disgusted from seeing all the vomit inside the wastebasket as well. So they both dashed out of the captain's quarters.

…

As he was heading for the exit, Danny noticed a couple of familiar people at a kiosk. One looked like the salesman from the Mount Moon Pokémon Center. The other was a guy, dressed like a waiter, with short purple hair, holding a flailing Magikarp.

"I think I saw that salesman at a Pokémon Center," Danny said to his Pikachu. "And that guy with him looks like one of the Team Rocket members from Mount Moon!"

"A billion?" James asked.

"You can sell one Magikarp for $100. In three generations, you'll have tons of money. Billions and billions!" The salesman was using the same pitch on James that he tried on Danny earlier.

"Billions?" James seemed shocked.

"You'll be so rich," the salesman explained, "you can go on a Pokémon shopping spree!"

"Rich, rich!" James said happily, bobbing his head back and forth.

"Should we warn him?" Danny asked his Pikachu.

"Pika-pi." Pikachu shook his head no.

"I normally charge $100," the salesman was saying to James, "but for you I'll throw in an egg-laying set, childcare set and an education set for only $300! How about it, kid?"

"I'LL TAKE IT!" James said, jumping up.

"I can tell!" the salesman grinned. "You're going to be a very rich man. A very rich man!"

James laughed dementedly some more as he held his Magikarp.

As they walked past, Danny said to his Pikachu, "Wait until he learns the truth…"

An announcement then came on over the ship's intercom. "Attention, please! The St. Anne will be departing the Vermillion harbor in five minutes. Any visitors that are not riding, please disembark the ship right now!"

"Well Pikachu," Danny said. "Let's go! We've got a gym badget waiting for us!"

Danny and his Pikachu eventually managed to get off the ship. They stood on the dock with a crowd of others as the St. Anne sounded its horn and began pulling away. A crowd of people on the deck of the ship were all waving goodbye and cheerng. But then Danny heard a familiar voice coming from the ship…

"AAAH! WAIT! I don't wanna ride on this cruise!" It was Butt. He ran over to the edge, held his nose, and jumped off screaming. Danny laughed as Butt splashed down into the water. After a few seconds, Butt came back up again. "That's not funny!" he said to the crowd.

Danny then walked off as the ship began to sail off into the horizon. A sailor near the dock entrance then told Danny, "The ship set sail."

Now Danny once again had that fluttering, nervous feel in his stomach. He was ready to go into his third gym battle!

TO BE CONTINUED


	6. The Surge

**POKEMON**

Chapter Six:

The Surge

Now that his experience with the St. Anne was over, it was time for Danny to get down to business. He heard the Vermillion City gym leader Lieutenant Surge was really tough, and specialized in electric Pokémon. But this was why he had captured a Diglett earlier. However, Danny got another idea…

Soon, Danny was talking with Professor Oak on some sort of PC video phone device at the Pokémon Center, but it also had a compartment of some sort you could load a Pokéball into.

"So do you think it's possible if I can exchange two of my Pokémon?" Danny was finishing.

"Of course," Oak said. "Who would you like to send over, and who do you want me to send to you?"

"How about my Mankey for Geodude, and my Butterfree for Diglett?" Danny asked.

"A fine choice, particularly if you are going to battle Lt. Surge," Professor Oak said. "Give me a minute." He walked off-screen for a while, then arrived with a Pokéball. "OK," he instructed, "place each Pokéball in the compartment, one at a time."

Danny did so. "You're going to like Professor Oak's lab, guys," he said to the Pokéballs.

And so the exchange was made. Danny got his Geodude and Diglett.

"Oh by the way," Professor Oak added. "Your younger brother Billy started HIS training journey about a week after you left. He might be arriving in Vermillion City some time soon."

"That's good," Danny said. "What Pokémon did he start with?"

"A Squirtle," Oak answered.

"Hmm," Danny said. "That's the one initial starter I don't have yet," he said to himself. Then he said to Oak, "Well, if I don't see him yet but he contacts you, tell him I wish him the best of luck!"

"Will do, Danny," Oak said. "Bye for now!"

"See ya!" Danny said, hanging up the PC phone.

…

The sky was beginning to cloud up. Danny could see some rather dark storm clouds off in the distance. However, he knew this wouldn't be that much trouble, as there was plenty of shelter around. But in order to get to the Vermillion Gym, a small bush was blocking its path. "This might be a good opportunity to try out that new Cut technique," Danny said, pulling out the hidden machine HM01.

Danny decided to let Ivysaur learn the Cut technique, and in no time the bush was cut down, and Danny found himself about to enter the Vermillion Gym.

"Ready, Pikachu?" Danny asked.

"Pikachu!" Danny's Pikachu hopped with joy.

They entered. Some kind of bouncer greeted them. "Yo! Champ in making! Lt. Surge has a nickname. People refer to him as the Lightning American! He's an expert on electric Pokémon! Birds and water Pokémon are at risk. Beware of paralysis too! Lt. Surge is very cautious. You'll have to break a code to get to him!"

Danny noticed what was going on. The doors to Lt. Surge's main battlefield were locked, and there were a series of trash cans all around, and a few other trainers. Danny quickly picked up that there was probably some kind of secret switch in the cans.

A sailor stopped Danny. "This is no place for kids!" He sent out his two Magnemite, but Danny's Geodude was able to take them down.

"Wow! Surprised me!" the sailor said. "Lt. Surge set up double locks. Here's a hint! When you open the first lock, the second lock is right next to it!"

Danny took that advice. He managed to find one lock in a trash can, but he was a bit nervous trying to locate the second. However, he got lucky, and the doors opened. Danny was in! By now, it was beginning to rain outside, with thunder softly rumbling.

"Ten-hut!" Lt. Surge greeted Danny as he entered the battlefield. "Welcome to Vermillion Gym! Will you look at that? A pint-sized challenger! With a little baby Pokémon!" He directly eyed Danny's nervous-looking Pikachu and laughed. "You've got big and brassy nerves to take me on with your puny power! A Pokémon battle is WAR! I'll show you, civillian! I'll shock you into surrender!" He got out a Pokéball and threw it onto the field. "Go Pokéball!"

The ball opened, and out popped a large orange mouse-like Pokémon. "Raichu!" it said.

"Whoa… a Raichu!" Danny said. "That's the evolved form of Pikachu. I hope my Diglett can beat it. GO, DIGLETT!" He sent out his Diglett.

Lt. Surge laughed. "A puny little Diglett?! This will be easy!" A bolt of lightning streaked outside, followed by a crack of thunder. "Perfect! I love me a good thunderstorm. Charges me up!"

A referee of some sort came out, speaking into a microphone. "The Pokémon battle will now begin! Only one Pokémon at a time may be used. The gym leader, Lt. Surge, has chosen Raichu. The challenger, Danny, has chosen Diglett. No time limit. Let the battle begin!" A bell clanged.

"Diglett, dig!" Danny ordered. On command, the Diglett burrowed itself underground.

"Raichu," Lt. Surge commanded, "Mega punch!"

But Raichu missed and instead landed near Danny. Just then, Diglett popped back up from the ground with a high velocity, sending Raichu crashing to the ground. Raichu appeared to have weakened from the impact, but still capable of battling. The lights then began flashing on and off in the gym.

"What's happening?" Danny asked.

"It must be the high winds outside," Surge said. "No matter. Once this storm ends, I'll power the gym myself! But until then… Raichu! Thunderbolt!"

"Raiiiii…CHUUUUU!" the electric mouse shrieked, sending a lethal electric charge toward Diglett. At the same time, lightning flashed outside, apparently triggered from Raichu's Thunderbolt attack. However, Diglett was unfazed.

"Huh?" Lt. Surge asked as the lights flickered more.

"Electric moves are ineffective against ground Pokémon!" Danny said. "I came prepared! Now Diglett, dig again!"

Diglett buried itself into the ground again. After a few flickers, the electricity went out throughout the gym.

"Raichu," Lt. Surge said, "Don't let the power failure stop you! Mega kick on the ground!"

But Raichu still couldn't hit Diglett this way. Sure enough, Diglett popped up again and managed to knock out Raichu with its force!

"UNBELIEVABLE!" Lt. Surge said as more thunder crashed outside.

"We have a winner!" The referee said, as Danny and his Pikachu laughed triumphantly.

"Whoa! You're the real deal, kid!" Lt. Surge said, shaking Danny's hand. "Fine, then. Take this Thunderbadge!" He handed it to Danny.

"Thanks, Lt. Surge!" Danny said, as he recalled Diglett back to its Pokéball.

"The Thunderbadge cranks up your Pokémon's speed! It also lets your Pokémon use Fly any time, kid! You'll learn about that a little later, though. You're special, kid! Take this!" He handed Danny a technical machine. "That's TM24. It contains Thunderbolt! Teach it to an electric Pokémon! But your Pikachu will probably learn it on its own, so save it for another electric Pokémon you'll obtain later!"

"Thanks!" Danny said, as he and Pikachu left the gym.

"Whew, that match was electric!" the bouncer said.

…

The storm had ended outside, but the whole city was without power. It was starting to get dark outside. At the Pokémon Center, they had no lights or air conditioning through the building, but the healing machines, PCs and telephones still worked. Danny was able to heal up his team. Then he deposited his Geodude and Diglett to Professor Oak's laboratory, and decided to withdraw his Clefairy.

"Come on guys," Danny said to his Pokémon. "Let's trek through Diglett's Cave and see if Pewter City has power." They left the center.

"Didn't you hear?" the old man Danny talked with earlier said. "The St. Anne sunk out at sea during the storm! Luckily it seems everyone got off safely as of now."

"Whew," Danny said. "Good thing I wasn't on the ship after all!"

Danny came across a female police officer. Like the one he met in Cerulean City, this one was also named Jenny. She noticed Danny holding his Thunderbadge as he and Pikachu walked along. "Oh, you have the Thunderbadge?!" she said. "You must be a good trainer! I just caught a Squirtle that was always getting into mischief. Would you take good care of it?"

"Would I?" Danny said. "Of course!"

"OK. Please treat squirtle right!" Jenny said, handing the Pokéball to Danny.

…

A little while later, before approaching Diglett's Cave, Danny decided to check out his new Pokémon. "Squirtle!" it said as it emerged from the Pokéball.

Danny laughed. "Now I have a Squirtle, just like my brother!" He got out his Pokédex…

"Squirtle," Dexter explained. "A tiny turtle Pokémon. It shoots water at prey while in the water. It withdraws into its shell when in danger."

"Nice!" Danny said.

…

So Danny and his Pokémon trekked through Diglett's Cave, and eventually wound up at the other side. At a small cottage, a boy poked through a window. "Hey! Are you a Pokémon trainer?" he called.

"Yeah?" Danny said, running up to the cottage.

"Come on in!" the boy said, and Danny entered. He held up a Pokéball and said, "I'm looking for a Clefairy! Wanna trade one for my Mr. Mime?"

Danny gasped softly. "Hmm…" he thought. He went to a bit of trouble to catch the Clefairy back at Mount Moon. But he knew Mr. Mime was even rarer. It sounded like a worthy trade. But first he asked, "Uh, are you sure you want to give up your Mr. Mime?"

"I don't mind," the boy said. "My family already has quite a few of them. We raise them! But I want to be a trainer like you, and I want more than just Mr. Mime!"

"Well, if that's how it goes… OK!" Danny smiled.

"OK," the boy said, as he whipped the cover off a trading machine.

"What is THAT?" Danny asked.

"It's our personal trading machine," he said. This way, the Pokémon legally becomes yours. Lots of people trade Pokémon. It's a great way to try and catch them all!"

"If you say so," Danny said. He put the Clefairy's Pokéball on his end, and the boy put his Pokéball on the other.

"Well, here goes!" he said. He pushed a button, and in a few seconds, the balls were sucked into the machine, the screen showed two sprites of Clefairy and Mr. Mime passing each other, and then the balls came back out.

"Hey, thanks!" the boy said. "His nickname is Miles, so call him that."

"Any time," Danny said. He left the cottage, and tossed his Pokéball forward. "Go, Pokéball!" he said, and sure enough, out popped a Mr. Mime.

"Mr. Mime," the humanoid clownlike Pokémon said.

Danny got out his Pokédex again. "Mr. Mime. The barrier Pokémon. It always practices its pantomime act. It makes enemies believe something exists that really doesn't. Because it is so rare, information about this Pokémon is limited."

"Wow," Danny said. "This sure is cool! Another addition to the collection!"

…

Danny stopped at another building that also still had electricity, and came across a scientist of some sort. "Hi! Remember me?" the scientist said. "I'm Professor Oak's aide! If you caught ten kinds of Pokémon, I'm supposed to give you an HM05. So, Danny, have you caught ten kinds of Pokémon?"

"See for yourself," Danny said, handing his Pokédex to the aide.

"Hmm…" he said, checking it. "Great! You have caught 18 different kinds of Pokémon. Congratulations! Here you go!" He handed Danny a hidden machine, similar to the Cut one, but with "HM05" marked on it. "The hidden move Flash lights even the darkest dungeons." 

"Just like Brock said!" Danny grinned.

…

After that, Danny caught a bus to Pewter City. He decided to try out his new Cut ability some more. One place that caught Danny's interest was the Pewter Museum of Science. There was a back way of some sort blocked off by a small bush, so Danny cut that down, and entered the door.

The Pewter Museum of Science still had power. There was a laboratory of some sorts with scientists working around. As Danny approached what appeared to be a shiny piece of amber, the clerk from the entrance stopped him.

"You can't sneak in the back way!" He seemed serious at first, but then he put his hand to his forehead. "Oh, whatever! Do you know what amber is?"

"Yeah," Danny said, "it's fossilized tree sap of some sort."

"There's a lab somewhere trying to resurrect ancient Pokémon from amber!" the clerk said.

"Hey, kid!" a scientist near the amber called to Danny.

"What is it?" Danny asked, walking toward the scientist.

Holding up the clear gold amber, the scientist said a bit nervously, "Ssh! I think this chunk of amber contains Pokémon DNA! It would be great if Pokémon could be resurrected from it! But my colleagues just ignore me! So I have a favor to ask! Take this to a Pokémon lab and get it examined!"

"I can do that," Danny said, as he received the amber from the scientist.

…

Danny rode the bus back to Vermillion City, and then trekked back to Cerulean City. The sun was starting to go down. Danny figured his next stop should be Lavender Town, but there was a sign near Diglett's Cave: "NOTICE! Route 12 may be blocked off by a sleeping Pokémon. Detour through Rock Tunnel to Lavender Town. – Vermillion Police." So after stopping at the Pokémon Center once again to swap his Mr. Mime for his Abra and to deposit some items he didn't need anymore, Danny headed back to Cerulean City so he could get to Rock Tunnel this way.

However, Cerulean City also had no electricity from the storm. While he was there, Danny went and exchanged his bike voucher for a bicycle, and later ran into his younger brother, Billy!

"Billy, what are you doing here?" Danny asked.

"I just beat the three Cerulean Sisters and got my Cascade Badge," Danny explained. "My Pikachu was a big help… wait, YOU got a Pikachu too?"

"Yes," Danny said. "Didn't Professor Oak tell you? He told me you got a Squirtle. I got one as well!" Danny tossed one of his Pokéballs open and his Squirtle came out.

"Squirtle Squirt!" Danny's Squirtle said.

"Well then, come on out fellas!" Billy said, sending out HIS Squirtle and Pikachu.

"Where'd you get your Pikachu?" Danny asked.

"Viridian Forest," Billy explained. "I caught 12 different kinds of Pokémon so far. Now I'm on my way to Vermillion City."

"Let me tell you," Danny warned, "Vermillion City also has no power because of that storm."

"Yeah, I was in the Pokémon Center here when it happened," Billy said. "Luckily the Cerulean sisters were able to still battle even without power. Well, hopefully it will come back on once I'm in Vermillion City!"

"I hope so, too." Danny said. Then they both parted ways and were off once again to their respective destinations.

TO BE CONTINUED


	7. Karma Charmeleon

**POKEMON**

Chapter Seven:

Karma Charmeleon

Danny had just started travelling down Route 9. He hadn't gone far when a female Junior Trainer had stopped him for a battle, sending out her Oddish.

That gave Danny and idea. "Go, Charmeleon!" he called as he let out his Charmeleon. Almost instantly, Charmeleon yelped in a panic and grabbed Danny's legs.

"Charmeleon," Danny said softly as he gently rubbed his back, "evolving into a new form may seem a little scary, but it's also good for you. You get stronger and better at battling. Lots of Pokémon evolve, too. As you get even stronger, you may evolve again into a bigger and better Pokémon! Now does that sound like such a bad thing?"

"Chaar…" the Charmeleon softly said, nodding his head in agreement.

The other trainer groaned. "Are we gonna battle or what?!" she yelled.

"So, you ready to battle?" Danny asked his Pokémon.

"Charmeleon!" the red Pokémon agreed, and went into battle.

The female Junior Trainer, a Picnicker, had two Oddish and two Bellsprout. But thanks to his Ember and Scratch attacks, Charmeleon was able to take all of them down, not even letting a bit of Poisonpowder stop him. "You deceived me!" the Picnicker said.

Danny leaned down and high-fived his Charmeleon. Pikachu did the same, too. Then Danny gave Charmeleon an antidote to cure his poison condition, and they headed to Rock Tunnel.

…

Danny was now passing through Rock Tunnel. However, it was so dark, Danny taught his freshly-evolvedKadabra the move "Flash" so he could see. Back at the Pokémon Center outside the tunnel, Danny had just swapped his Mr. Mime for his Abra from Professor Oak, whom had evolved into a Kadabra after gaining some experience when Danny battled other trainers along the way.

There were quite a few "Pokémaniac" trainers along the way, too. One stopped Danny, asking "Do you know about costume players?"

"You mean cosplay?" Danny asked. "I will admit I've always wanted to give it a try."

"Good," the Pokémaniac said, "but first, let's battle!" He got out his Charmander, to which Danny sent out his Squirtle.

Squirtle could easily take down the Charmander with its' Water Gun and Bubble attacks. Likewise with a Cubone the trainer had also sent out.

"Well, that's that," the Pokémaniac said, recalling his fainted Cubone to his Pokéball. Then he explained, "Costume players dress up as Pokémon for fun. Clefairy is a popular favorite."

"I'll keep that in mind," Danny said, and then looked down at his Squirtle, whom seemed to be glowing.

"Oh boy," Danny said, "now YOU'RE evolving, too!"

Sure enough, Danny's Squirtle had evolved into a Wartortle!

Danny got out the Pokédex again. "Wartortle. The evolved form of Squirtle," it explained. "When tapped, this Pokémon will pull in its head, but its tail will still stick out a little bit."

"Wow, I can't believe how well I am training all my Pokémon at this rate," Danny said, impressed with himself.

"Pika-pika!" his Pikachu agreed.

"Wartortle!" The newly-evolved Wartortle seemed rather pleased, too.

A little later, Danny's Pikachu was battling a Picnicker girl's Pidgey, eventually knocking it out with his just-learned Thunderbolt attack. "I'm out of Pokémon!" the girl complained.

"You did great, Pikachu," Danny said. "AND you learned the Thunderbolt move too!"

Pikachu gave a big "PIII-KAAA!" and zapped Danny to show off his Thunderbolt move.

"YOWWWWWWCH!" Danny yelled, before Pikachu released him and Danny dropped to the ground, stunned a bit. Pikachu laughed.

"That wasn't necessary," Danny groaned…

…

Eventually, Danny and his Pokémon arrived at Lavender Town. It was dark out now, and there was no power here either. Danny and Pikachu decided to turn in for the night at the Pokémon Center, as they had offered some cots for passing trainers. It was a bit crowded inside, due to the power failure, but thanks to the Center's generator they could still heal Pokémon, though the lights and air conditioning were still unavailable.

Danny and his Pikachu tried to sleep on the cot, waking up briefly a couple times during the night due to the heat. Later, near 3:30 AM, Danny got up to use the restroom, and Pikachu followed. Danny let Charmeleon out of his Pokéball to provide a light source on the way.

Just as Danny was washing his hands and Pikachu was grooming himself in the sink a bit, the lights outside the restroom came back on (as Danny didn't turn the restroom light switch on due to the power failure) and he could hear the air conditioner starting up, and several of the other sleeping trainers woke up as well.

"The power's back on." "Finally, we can cool down!" "Now I'll be able to sleep better," arose the chatter from various trainers in the center.

The Nurse Joy managing the Pokémon Center stepped out of her office and quarters. "What? The power's back on! What a relief. I recommend all trainers that have the room to do so, let your Pokémon out of their Pokéballs so they can enjoy the cool air from our air-conditioning system."

Danny smiled and went back to his cot, letting out his Ivysaur, Wartortle, Pidgeotto and Kadabra from their Pokéballs so they could sleep in the now-cool climate.

…

The next morning, everyone woke up well-refreshed. Danny swapped his Kadabra for his Diglett from Professor Oak, and headed out. Things were back to normal now that the power was back on across the region, and it was a bright sunny day. However, near the edge of Lavender Town towards a mountainside, a decreipt ominous-looking tower with demon horn-like protusions on its' side stood, with some kind of mysterious fog surrounding it and darkening the area. Danny thought it looked rather creepy, but he figured there were probably some neat Pokémon in there. But first he had to go to Celadon City, where his next gym badge was waiting…

Along the way, Danny battled a few other trainers. When a super nerd sent out his Grimer, Danny sent out his Charmeleon, who once again started shivering in fear.

Danny sighed and leaned over to Charmeleon. "Now, Charmeleon," he softly said, rubbing his arm. "I know you're still nervous about your new form, but evolution is good for you. You gain strength and loyalty to the trainer in the process. Otherwise, our friendship will not build up, and you won't be a good Pokémon partner. I still like you, no matter what form you're in. And once you become a Charizard, things will be even better."

Charmeleon looked up at Danny with large eyes. "Chaaar?" he asked uncertainly.

"You can do it, Charmeleon," I said. "After all, Pikachu didn't like me much when we first met, and now we're inseparable!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu happily agreed.

That convinced Charmeleon. "Meleon!" he exclaimed, and went to face the super nerd's Grimer.

"Finally!" the nerd said. "Pokémon battles are for battling, not social hours!"

Charmeleon was able to take down the super nerd's two Grimers and Muk using his Ember and Rage moves. It was a close battle, but despite looking quite weak, Charmeleon was the victor.

Danny grinned. "You did it, Charmeleon!" he exclaimed. Charmeleon let out a happy "Charrr!" leaped into Danny's arms and hugged him.

"It's not logical!" the super nerd said, not amused.

After that, Danny had his Diglett battle a Lass's female Nidoran and Nidorina. After doing so, it began to glow white, and then buried itself in the ground. Some dirt rose, and then what looked like three larger Digletts popped out bunched together.

"Trio!" the Dugtrio said.

Of course, Danny checked his Pokédex on this. "Dugtrio," Dexter explained. "The evolved form of Diglett. A team tof triplets that can burrow over 60 miles per hour. Due to this, some people think it's an earthquake."

"Cool," Danny smiled.

The Lass wasn't amused. Already bitter from defeat, she said, "When Pokémon grow up, they get ugly! They shouldn't evolve!"

Danny returned Dugtrio to its' Pokéball, and he and Pikachu walked off laughing.

…

Danny saw that the road from Route 7 to Saffron City was closed, so he had to cut through another underground path to get to Celadon City, as that's where he could win the fourth badge he needed to get into the Pokémon League. Before going down the stairs, a woman told him, "The department store in Celadon City has a great selection!"

Danny smiled and told his Pikachu, "Well, Pikachu, I guess at some point we'll go on a shopping spree in Celadon!"

After going through the underground path, Danny and Pikachu went up the stairs, and started walking towards Celadon City…

TO BE CONTINUED


	8. Playing the Game

**POKEMON**

Chapter Eight:

Playing the Game

Danny and Pikachu had arrived in Celadon City as the sun was starting to set. But the first person they came across was a Team Rocket grunt, complete with black uniform and cap. "Keep out of Team Rocket's way," he snarled.

Danny stopped at the Pokémon Center near the entrance to heal his party. Then after that, Danny went onto the PC to make another Pokémon deposit using Bill's storage system, sending Dugtrio to Professor Oak's lab.

After that, Danny and Pikachu spied a very tall building. A sign out front read "Celadon Mansion: Home of the Game Freak Center!" Danny turned to you readers and said, "Yep, we're going to visit the place where this all comes from!" (Yep, breaking the fourth wall here!) They entered, and first checked out the manager's suite, where an old lady (said manager) was hanging with her Clefairy, Meowth and female Nidoran. A sculpture of Diglett was placed on a shelf.

The old lady manager explained, "My dear Pokémon keep me company. Meowth even brings money home!"

"Meowth!" her Meowth said, holding up a coin.

"Oh, you have an adorable Pikachu with you!" the old lady exclaimed to Danny. "You look like a fantastic duo. You're making me jealous."

"Pii-kaa…" Pikachu let out a somewhat embarassed laugh as he blushed a bit.

No one was in the Game Freak meeting room on the second floor, but up on the third floor things were busier, as that was where the Game Freak development room was. Danny and Pikachu entered.

One guy on his computer turned to face Danny. "I wrote this story! Isn't Erika cute? I like Misty a lot, too! Oh, and Sabrina, I like her!" He let out a somewhat perverted laugh.

Danny glanced at his Pikachu and said, "I guess that's why there are so many pretty girls in this region." He caught a glimpse of the computer's monitor and exclaimed, "It's the script! Better not look at the ending!"

At another computer, a computer technician explained, "I'm the graphic artist! I drew you!" But he was currently playing an online game instead of working as he said that.

Another computer technician told Danny, "Me? I'm the programmer!"

Danny looked at the screen. "It's the game program," he realized. "Messing with it could bug out the game!" So he didn't.

Another man in the office looked at Danny. "Is that right?" he asked. "I'm the game designer! Filling up your Pokédex is tough, but don't quit! When you finish, come tell me!"

"Sure thing," Danny said, and he and Pikachu left the room.

Outside the building, Danny and Pikachu noticed a back door. Perhaps this could take them to the penthouse that was blocked off when using the front door? They went in and up the stairs to find out…

…

After climbigng the back stairs, Danny and Pikachu were able to get to the penthouse. A sign next to its' door read "I KNOW EVERYTHING!" Danny and Pikachu looked at each other uncertainly, and went in.

Some strange man greeted them, explaining, "I know everything about the world of Pokémon in your game! Get together with your friends and trade Pokémon!"

"Cool," Danny said. He looked around a bit, going through a pamphlet about TMs and HMs, a chart about trading and battling Pokémon with friends, and a Pokéball on the desk.

"Go ahead," the man said. "Take it!"

Danny took the Pokéball and opened it. An Eevee came out!

"Wow!" Danny said. "An Eevee! Just like Butt got from Professor Oak. And I would've gotten it if it wasn't for Butt butting in… ah, no matter. I got to start with Pikachu!"

"Pi-KA-chu!" Pikachu happily agreed.

Danny pulled out his Pokédex and checked the capture data. "Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon," Dexter explained. "Its' genetic code is unstable, so it could evolve in a variety of ways. There are only a few alive."

"Wow," Danny said. "I wonder what I can evolve him into…"

But now it was getting a bit late, and Danny and his Pokémon had not had dinner yet. But first, they had to check into a hotel. They trekked through the city a bit, finding a building that looked suspiciously similar to Celadon's Pokémon Center, but longer, and there were a couple of luggage cart and busboys around. They decided to go inside.

In the main lobby, it strangely looked similar to the Pokémon Center's main lobby, but no healing machines or PCs were present. At the counter was an old lady. Danny walked up to her with his Pikachu, and the lady said, "Pokémon? No, this is a hotel for people, we're full up. Won't have room for… another twenty minutes. You wait?"

"All right then," Danny said.

So Danny and his Pokémon went to the café/restaurant a few buildings down the street from the hotel and had dinner. People there were talking about this new game corner that had been built. They all sounded pretty excited.

One large man that was eating next to Danny pointed over at a miserable-looking guy at one of the tables and said with his mouth full, "The man at that table lost it all at the slots."

Danny looked over at the man, who angrily said, "Go ahead! Laugh! I'm flat-out busted! No more slots for me! I'm going straight! Here! I won't be needing this anymore!" He hurried over to Danny and handed him a coin case.

"Uh… thanks!" Danny said, unsure what to make of it.

Danny decided to go check out this new game corner. It sounded like a big deal. But right after stepping out of the restaurant, he came across another Team Rocket grunt dressed in black.

"What are you staring at?" the Rocket grunt snarled. "Get lost or I'll punch you."

Danny made an uncertain noise, scooped up his Pikachu and ran off towards the Game Corner. Sure enough, a big crowd was there, as two people dressed in fancy blue tuxedos and yellow boater hats were addressing them. One of them was a woman with long red hair, and the other was a man with short purple hair. Danny noticed they looked somewhat familiar…

"Come one, come all," Jessie was announcing, "to the new Rocket Game Corner! The playground for grownups!"

"Step right up!" James added. "Take your chances at the slots and other casino games! Win fabulous prizes such as rare Pokémon and technical machines!"

"Hmm," Danny thought. "I wonder what kind of rare Pokémon they have? Well, since I have a coin case, we can check it out!"

An old man with glasses moaned among hearing Danny. He told him, "I blew it all at the slots! I knew I should have cashed in my coins for prizes!"

But then Danny noticed an unusual figure; a very tall person wobbling around in a long trenchcoat and fedora hat. His face looked very familiar…

"Say, isn't that Billy?" Danny wondered out loud. He rushed over to the figure and said, "Aren't you my brother?"

Billy shushed Danny. "Yes! I want to get into the Game Corner, but they say it's the playground for grownups, so me and a couple other Pokémon are passing ourselves off as an adult to get in!" As he said that, his Wartortle and Kadabra poked out from underneath the trenchcoat, revealing Billy was standing on top of them.

Danny laughed. "You look ridiculous doing that. It's like something out of a cartoon!"

"Don't tell anyone!" Billy insisted. "They probably won't let you inside either, seeing you're also a kid."

"Hmm," Danny thought out loud. "Come on, Pikachu, let's just blend into that crowd going into the Game Corner. Maybe they won't notice!"

So they did, and Danny and Pikachu managed to get inside the Rocket Game Corner undetected. Jessie and James and a bouncer at the entrance also didn't seem to raise an eye at Billy in his adult disguise.

…

Inside, several people were enjoying themselves at the slot machines. Danny sat down next to one and realized he needed coins to play, so he tapped the shoulder of the guy next to him.

"Hey, what? You're throwing me off!" he insisted. "Here are some coins, shoo!" And he put some coins in Danny's case.

Danny smiled, and looked at another guy playing the slot machines. "What's up?" he asked. "Want some coins?" And he gave Danny some more coins.

…

After a few tries, Danny finally scored some coins when lining up three cherries.

"Gee," Danny realized, "these are so addictive!"

An old man overheard Danny. "Games are scary," he agreed. "It's so easy to get hooked!"

Eventually after spending 20 minutes at the slots, Danny earned a decent amount of coins. He got up and started walking towards the entrance door so he could see what prizes were available, another man at a slot machine beckoned Danny over and softly told him, "Keep this quiet. It's rumored that this place is run by Team Rocket."

After hearing that, Danny noticed Jessie and James at a couple of the slot machines, still in their sharply-dressed disguises. Their Meowth was with them, lounging on top of one of the slot machines.

Jessie was saying, "There! Come on! Almost got it… Aaah, so close!" She had lost again.

James turned to his partner. "Come on, Jessie, why don't we head to the hideout now?"

"Oh, come on," Jessie said, "we've already handed over the Cubone to another Team Rocket member. What's the harm in taking a little break? Besides, how were we supposed to open the hidden entrance to the hideout, anyway?"

"We just need to check the poster with a vehicle on it, remember?" James explained. "A vehicle that's the best way to represent us!"

Danny got a little closer to the two, but not close enough to get noticed.

"What do you mean?" Jessie asked James. "What kind of vehicle is the best way to represent us?"

"You know," James said, "those things that blast off into space?"

Danny glanced over to the upper right corner of the room and noticed a poster with a drawing of a launching rocket that a Grimer and Koffing were riding on. Sure enough, there was another Team Rocket grunt, dressed in black, standing in front of the poster. Danny also saw his brother Billy, sitting and using a slot machine, still in his trenchcoat with his Wartortle underneath, holding him up on the stool. Kadabra stood on the floor in front of the stool, panting a little inside the coat after taking a break from holding up Wartortle and Billy.

"Hey, uh, Billy…" Danny tapped Billy's shoulder.

"WHAT?!" Billy nervously said as he quickly lurched to focus on Danny, but then he started to lose his balance and he fell, revealing his Wartortle and Kadabra! Luckily, Danny caught him as he fell on his behind.

"Well, this is awkward…" Danny noted.

"Great," Billy said as he got up, sounding peeved. "Now I'm gonna be caught and thrown out with my Pokémon!"

"Don't worry," Danny softly reassured his brother as he also got back on his feet. "No one seems to really care about me going around the place, and I'm a kid, so I am sure you're safe too, even without that disguise. But it looks like that Team Rocket is actually running the place."

"Ohh," Billy said in a low voice. "Like the name Rocket Game Corner, and that thug standing by the poster?"

"Yes," Danny added, "and those two guys over there are also Team Rocket members."

"Ohh, are they Jessie and James?" Billy asked. "I ran into them a couple times already, with their talking Meowth."

"Exactly," Danny said. "Something is fishy, but I want to try and figure it out. Maybe if we can uncover Team Rocket's operation, that will give us a more positive image on our training journeys."

"You go," Billy said. "I'll watch."

Danny rolled his eyes, and he and his Pikachu walked over to the Grunt standing at the poster. But the Grunt heard him approaching and rapidly turned to face Danny. "I'm guarding this poster!" he growled. "Go away, or else!" He pulled out a Pokéball and tossed it open, to which a Raticate came out.

So of course, Danny had his Pikachu use Thunderbolt on the Team Rocket Grunt's Raticate, but a Hyper Fang was enough to greatly weaken Pikachu. Fortunately, Pikachu's Quick Attack was able to knock out the Raticate. So Danny had Pikachu rest afterward and sent out his Charmeleon.

Among seeing the Zubat, Charmeleon covered his eyes in fear. "Chaar!"

"It's OK, it's OK!" Danny said to the Charmeleon. "You can defeat it using your attacks! Try using Rage on it."

So Charmeleon sucked in his gut and unleashed his Rage attack, but Zubat sent out a Supersonic, confusing the Charmeleon!

"Please don't hurt yourself in the confusion," Danny softly pleaded.

Fortunately, Charmeleon was initially able to use his Rage attack to knock out Zubat anyways, despite hurting himself in his confusion a few times.

"Dang!" the Rocket Grunt cried out. "Our hideout might be discovered! I better tell the boss!" He ran off and jumped out a nearby open window.

Billy ran up to Danny and his Pikachu, taking off the fedora hat he still had on to reveal his red-and-white baseball cap with a green stylized "L" on the front. "Wow, you sure showed him!" Billy said, amazed.

They both peeked behind the poster. "Hey, a switch behind the poster?!" Danny said in disbelief.

"Let's push it!" Billy said, and Danny did. The switch beeped, and a secret door down the hall opened to reveal a stairwell going downward. "I'll check things out there first," Billy decided. "My Pokémon were just healed."

"OK then," Danny said. "I'm gonna heal up my Pokémon and then join you."

"Sure thing," Billy said, and he and his Wartortle disappeared down the stairs.

…

At the Pokémon Center, Danny healed up his team and exchanged his Eevee via PC for his Kadabra. Then he went back to the hotel, where a room was now available, and checked in. And then he returned to the Game Corner, going down the secret stairwell to investigate…

…

Danny and Pikachu went down a couple of stairwells when they heard a familiar voice. "Danny! Down here!"

They went down to the third basement level and found Billy. "Be careful down here," Billy warned. "There are tiles on the floor that spin you around. They're like a maze!"

Danny looked further. "Note that stairwell being farther from us instead of close to it," he said. "I bet there's something important down there!"

"Well, we'd better be careful anyways," Billy said. "There are quite a few Team Rocket guys down here too!"

Sure enough, a Team Rocket Grunt noticed them. "We got word from upstairs that you two were coming!"

"I'll handle this," Danny told Billy, and had Kadabra beat the Grunt's two Machops.

"What? I lost? No!" the Grunt cried out in agony. "Go ahead and go! But, you need the lift key to run the elevator!"

As Danny and Billy and their Pokémon took off, Billy asked "Lift key? Elevator?"

"I'm sure we can find them," Danny said.

Soon they came across some of the spinning tiles. Arrows were marking which direction they would send whoever stepped on a tile.

"See those arrows?" Billy pointed out. "They send you spinning that direction when you step on them."

"It looks like some kind of maze," Danny noted. "I'm sure we can find our way through if we just keep trying…"

Soon they were spinning throughout the maze. They were getting dizzy. But then Danny noticed something ahead of the four spin tiles pointing the same direction. "Get onto that third one," Danny instructed, and they did so. Soon, they found themselves out of the maze, and they managed to slip past another Team Rocket Grunt and into the seemingly-random stairwell.

Sure enough, on the fourth basement level, through one of the doorways, they spied yet another Team Rocket Grunt, this one holding some kind of key.

"That must be the lift key," Billy softly told Danny.

"I'll try and get it," Danny said.

"But he's gonna notice you!" Billy warned him.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," Danny replied. "Come along, Pikachu."

Danny and Pikachu went over towards the Team Rocket member, and of course, he noticed the two. "The elevator doesn't work?" he asked teasingly. "Who has the lift key?" He twirled it around in his finger, and then sent out a Koffing to attack.

Danny had his Kadabra battle it, and despite being poisoned from the Koffing's Smog attack, it was still able to make the Koffing faint with its' Confusion move. Then Pikachu was able to fry the Grunt's Zubat easily with a Thunderbolt.

In shock and disbelief, the Team Rocket Grunt accidentally dropped the key from his finger. "Oh no! I dropped the lift key!"

Pikachu quickly grabbed the lift key and handed it to Danny, who said "Thanks!" as they both took off.

Danny showed Billy the Lift Key, and he grinned. "You got it!" he said happily. "Now let's find that elevator."

Because they didn't see it on the third level, Danny and Billy and Pikachu went back up to the second level. Once again, they had to go through another maze of spin tiles and battle a couple other Team Rocket Grunts, but they found their way to the elevator doors. Pikachu looked a bit dizzy after all the spinning, but then he shook his head and appeared fine.

Suddenly, another Team Rocket member popped out at the three. "How can you not see the beauty of our evil?" he told them, and sent out an Ekans.

"I'll handle this," Billy told Danny. "You go ahead." And then he sent out his Kadabra to battle the Ekans.

Danny and his Pikachu hurried to the elevator and rode it down to the fourth basement level. But after getting out and trekking towards a doorway with "BOSS" written over it, who should pop out but Jessie, James and Meowth once again!

"Not another step, brat!" Jessie demanded as they approached Danny and his Pikachu. She and James were back in their silvery-white Team Rocket uniforms.

"You guys again?!" Danny moaned.

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie began.

"Make it double," James added.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth finished.

"Do you two always have to say that crazy rhyme?" Danny asked.

Ignoring his question, Jessie angrily said, "How dare you humiliate us at Mount Moon!"

"It's payback time, you brat!" James added, right before sending out his Koffing.

Danny sent out his Ivysaur and commanded it to use Razor Leaf, but it didn't do much damage.

James let out a self-confident laugh. "You've got a lot to learn about Pokémon, twerp!" he teased Danny.

"I'm just getting warmed up," Danny insisted.

"Koffing, Tackle!" James ordered.

"Koffing!" the floating toxic Pokémon called out as it attacked Ivysaur, who countered with its' Cut move.

After another Tackle from Koffing and a Razor Leaf from Ivysaur, Koffing fainted.

"I'm up next!" Meowth announced. "SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH!"

Danny held his ears. "That's almost as loud as Leer! Ivysaur, Vine Whip!" Danny ordered.

That attack sent Meowth to the ground, but he jumped up and prepared to use his Screech attack again, but it failed! A Razor Leaf attack from Ivyasaur then knocked Meowth out.

"Go, Ekans!" Jessie commanded as she sent out her Ekans. But Danny's Kadabra was able to defeat it with Psybeam.

"Such a dreadful twerp!" James cursed. Then he and Jessie announced in unison, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" and dashed off out of sight.

Shortly afterward, Billy came out of the elevator. "You doing all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Danny answered, giving his Ivysaur a Super Potion. "I just had to battle Jessie and James."

"Those two!" Billy said, clenching his fists.

"Come on," Danny said. "The Rocket boss must be in there. We can take him down together!"

"Are you sure?" Billy asked.

"I'm sure," Danny insisted. "Let's go!"

So they both went in. Sure enough, the boss was sitting in a chair in the shadows, stroking a Persian, the evolved form of Meowth.

"So," the boss said, "I must say, I am impressed you both got here!" He stepped out of the shadows, revealing his full figure as he got out some Pokéballs. "I am Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, and I can take both of you down!"

So Giovanni sent out his Onix and Rhyhorn to attack, while Danny and Billy had their Ivysaur and Wartortle, respectively, come out of their Pokéballs.

With a single Vine Whip from Danny's Ivysaur, Onix was knocked out, and Billy's Wartortle did in the Rhyhorn with Water Gun!

"Not bad," Giovanni said, returning his fainted Pokémon to his Pokéballs. Then he sent out his Kangaskhan to fight Billy's Wartortle, and ordered, "Persian, attack that pesky Pikachu!"

But even after trying to Bite Danny's Pikachu, Persian was defeated by Thundershock and Thunderbolt. Meanwhile, Billy's Wartortle knocked out Kangaskhan using Bite and Bubblebeam!

"WHAT?!" Giovanni shouted in disbelief. "This cannot be! I see that you both raise Pokémon with utmost care. Children like you would never understand what I hope to achieve. I shall step aside this time! I hope we meet again…" And with that, he threw down some kind of smoke bomb, and disappeared in the smoke, leaving Danny, Billy and their Pokémon coughing.

After the smoke cleared, Ivysaur's flower bulb began to glow

"Hey!" Billy said. "Looks like your Ivysaur is about to evolve!"

Sure enough, Ivysaur's whole body glowed in white, and he grew a bit larger. After that, each petal of the flower bulb slowly opened one by one. Danny, his Pikachu, and Billy all gasped in amazement. Then the light faded, and the Pokémon had now become a Venusaur!

"Venusaur!" the Venusaur said in a booming voice, seemingly pleased by its' own evolution.

"Wow!" Danny and Billy both said.

"Pika…" Danny's Pikachu added, quite astounded.

Danny checked his Pokédex, and it explained, "Venusaur. The evolved form of Ivysaur, and the final form of the Bulbasaur evolution. The flower on its' back catches the sun's rays. The sunlight is then absorbed and used for energy."

"Maybe my Wartortle will soon evolve," Billy pointed out.

"That's a possibility," Danny said, recalling Venusaur back into his Pokéball. They noticed a box with "SILPH SCOPES" on it.

"Let's each take a Silph Scope," Billy said. "It'll come in handy for that haunted tower in Lavender Town."

"Good idea," Danny said, and they each took one, rode the elevator back to the upper levels of the hideout, and went up the stairs to inside the Rocket Game Corner and outside the building, where night had fallen.

Sure enough, an Officer Jenny and some additional policemen were on the scene, arresting some Team Rocket members. "Don't worry, folks," Jenny addressed the public, "the Game Corner will remain open, but under new management."

"That's right," a man in a business suit standing next to Officer Jenny announced. "Following Team Rocket's scandal being destroyed, the name is being changed from Rocket Game Corner to Celadon Game Corner!"

The crowd all cheered.

"I guess we are parting ways now," Danny said.

"Yeah," Billy agreed. "I'm going to play in the Game Corner some more."

"And I need to heal up my Pokémon and then get some sleep," Danny said. "I'm going to battle Erika tomorrow for the Rainbow badge."

"Good luck," Billy said, and they shook hands and went their separate ways.

TO BE CONTINUED


	9. Erika and a Reunion

**POKEMON**

Chapter Nine:

Erika and a Reunion

Morning arose. Danny and Pikachu left the hotel and had breakfast at the café, and then decided to stop at the Price Exchange for the Celadon Game Corner.

Among checking the prizes, Danny saw he had enough coins to exchange them for a Vulpix, the fire fox Pokémon, one that he knew was very rare in the region. Then he was ready to take on the Celadon City gym leader, Erika. He trekked his way through the city, having to cut down a couple of bushes to get through, until he arrived at the gym, which was a circular structure with its' roof built to look like the flower on top of a Gloom.

As Danny and Pikachu approached the gym, they saw an old man peering into the gym windows.

"Heheh," the old man chuckled, "this gym is great! It's full of women!" Then he went back to looking through the window.

Danny and Pikachu shrugged it off, and they entered the gym. After confirming with the female receptionist, Danny was allowed inside the battle area. The whole place was decorated with numerous plants and flowers. Danny and his Pokémon had to cut down a bush and battle a couple of beautiful blondes with Bellsprouts and an Exeggcute to get to Erika. Danny thought they looked rather pretty, but he had to remember his goal was to get a Rainbow badge, not ogle over the women. But then he approached the gym leader, Erika, on the battlefield

"Gym leader uhh…" Danny let out a nervous laugh, seeing how beautiful Erika was.

"Hello," Erika said, not minding. "Lovely weather, isn't it? It's so pleasant. … Oh dear, I must have off. Welcome. My name is Erika. I am the leader of the Celadon Gym. I teach the arts of flower arranging and perfume production. My Pokémon are of the the grass type. It's all because of my Gloom. Ever since I was a little girl, I've been friends with Gloom ever since he saved me from a scary Grimer attack. And since then…" she noticed Danny staring. "Oh, I'm sorry, I had no idea that you wished to challenge me."

"Yes I do," Danny said, coming to his senses again.

"Very well," Erika said, "but I shall not lose." The stadium lights brightened. "Tangela, I choose you!" She sent out her Tangela, who let out a shriek.

"Come on out, Charmeleon!" Danny said, letting him out of his Pokéball.

"Chaar!" Charmeleon let out a ready-to-fight type of sound.

"Hey," Danny grinned. "Charmeleon's not so nervous anymore! Charmeleon, Ember attack!"

Charmeleon shot some flames at Tangela, knocking it off its' feet, but it got back up, a bit scorched but capable of fighting.

"Tangela," Erika instructed, "bind it!"

Tangela wrapped Charmeleon in its' vinds with the Bind attack a few times, but after a bit of struggling, Charmeleon slipped out of the vines.

"OK, Charmeleon," Danny commanded, "another blow of Ember!"

Ember got another scorching, but Erika ordered Tangela to use Bind again, and after some tough binding, Charmeleon was able to use Ember again, and that did it. With some more flames, Tangela was scorched and knocked out.

"Very nice," Erika admitted, as she recalled the fainted Tangela to her Pokéball. Then she pulled out another one and threw it, calling "Go, Weepingbell!"

"Bell, bell…" the large flower bell-like Pokémon said, staring with its' large eyes.

Danny ordered, "Charmeleon, enough! Come back!" He returned Charmeleon to his Pokéball, and said, "Go! Pidgo!" and sent out his Pidgeotto.

Danny had Pidgo do a Wing Attack at Weepingbell, but it wasn't enough. Weepingbell countered with Acid, so Danny had Pidgo do another Wing Attack. Then after another Acid attack from Weepingbell, Pidgo finally knocked out Weepingbell with one last Wing Attack.

After recalling Weepingbell, Erika said, "Obviously, you have empathy with your Pokémon. And now I'll send out… GLOOM!"

And with that, Erika's Gloom emerged from the Pokéball she threw. "Gloom!" he happily said.

Dan recalled Pidgeotto and brought back out Charmeleon, giving it a Super Potion.

But Gloom used Acid on Charmeleon, but that didn't stop him from countering with an Ember attack!

Erika let out a soft gasp. Gloom appeared scorched, but still capable of battle. "Gloom, use Acid again!" she commanded.

Gloom did so, but Charmeleon wasn't hurt very much. He was still able to use Ember again, successfully defeating Gloom!

"Great job, Charmeleon!" Danny called out, and Charmeleon was so proudy he leaped up and high-fived Danny's palm!

"Oh!" Erika exclaimed. "I concede defeat. You are remarkably strong, and you show empathy and care for your Pokémon."

"That's right," Danny pointed out. "After evolving from a Charmander, Charmeleon got kind of cowardly from his new form and strength, but I was able to comfort him and show him evolution is good, and he's since warmed up to being a Charmeleon and likes me even more now than when he was a Charmander!"

Erika smiled. "That's sweet. As per league rules, I must confer you the Rainbow badge." She took the badge out of her pocket and handed it to Danny. "The Rainbow badge will make Pokémon up to the Soul level obey. It also allows Pokémon to use Strength in and out of battle. But you'll learn about that in Fuschia City. Please also take this with you." She handed Danny a TM labeled "TM 21." Then she explained, "TM21 contains Mega Drain. Half the damage it inflicts drained to heal your Pokémon!"

Then after exchanging contact information, Danny and his Pokémon left the gym with pride. Danny was now at the halfway point of collecting all the gym badges needed to enter the Pokémon League at Indigo Plateau!

…

Danny decided to try out the bicycle he got in Cerulean City. He rode it to the Pokémon Center, which was quite a distance away from the gym, with Pikachu holding onto his back.

After healing his Pokémon and then swapping Kadabra via the PC for Dugtrio, they decided to go on a little shopping spree at the Celadon Department Store.

The receptionist in the lobby of the Department Store greeted Danny with, "Hello! Welcome to the Celadon Department Store. The board on the right describes the store layout."

Danny took a look at the board that listed the floors, and he and Pikachu trekked up the stairs to the second floor, where the Trainer's Market was. He did need to get some supplies. On that floor, Danny bought some more Great Balls, Super Potions and a few other healing items.

On the third floor was the TV Game Shop. There were some Nintendo game consoles connected to TVs set up and some trading machines. Then the fourth floor was where wiseman gifts were sold. A poster advertised "Evolution Special! Element stones on sale now!" That had Danny go to the counter, where he bought a Poké Doll, two Fire Stones, two Leaf Stones and a Thunder Stone.

Danny looked at the Thunder Stone he bought. "I heard Pikachu can evolve into Raichu with a Thunder Stone," he said to himself. "Pikachu could get powerful… but if I evolve him, I can't change him back… I think he looks cute as a Pikachu, and he'd never be the same if I evolved him. Erika said that I show loyalty and empathy to my Pokémon… evolving Pikachu just to make it stronger is nothing like that." He showed the Thunder Stone to Pikachu and asked, "Pikachu, what do you think?"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu pleaded, refusing.

"Oh… you refuse to evolve?" Danny asked.

Pikachu closed his eyes and nodded his head "no."

"I understand…" Danny said, hugging his Pikachu. "I wholeheartedly agree with you! I can save the Thunderstone for Eevee… provided Butt doesn't evolve HIS Eevee into a Jolteon."

By now, Danny's bag was rather full, so they took the elevator back to the first floor, went to the Pokémon Center to deposit the stones and Poké Doll Danny bought, and returned to the Department Store, taking the elevator up to the fifth floor, the Drug Store. This was where ability enhancers were sold.

"Pikachu's base stats are the lowest of all the Pokémon in my party," Danny said to himself. "And our training and fighting isn't helping much. That Pokémon Handbook does say such ability enhancing vitamins can help."

Pikachu overheard and happily said "Pi-KA-chu!"

"Glad you like that idea," Danny said, beaming at his Pikachu.

So Danny bought some HP Ups, Proteins, Irons and Calciums to give Pikachu, who was happy to take them. Then they went up to the rooftop square, where a lounge and vending machines were. Danny got some fresh water and lemonade bottles from one of the vending machines.

Meanwhile, a little girl was running around crazily. Her older brother explained to Danny, "My sister is a trainer, believe it or not. But she's so immature, she drives me nuts!"

"I'm thirsty!" the girl said. "I want something to drink!"

So Danny decided to help out and give the girl a water bottle.

"Yay!" the girl said. "Fresh water! Thank you! You can have this from me!" She handed her a TM, labeled 13. Danny felt pleased by the good deed he did. "TM13 contains Ice Beam!" the girl explained. "It can freeze the target sometimes!"

…

Danny and Pikachu decided to explore west of Celadon City, to Route 16. A sleeping Snorlax was blocking the path to Cycling Road, but Danny was able to cut down a small bush that enabled him to cut through an unofficial gate to a small area fenced above Cycling Road. Danny noticed a small house there, so he peeked in through the window.

Some girl inside the house with a Fearow gasped. "Oh, you found my secret retreat! Quick, come inside!" So Danny did. The girl told him, "Please don't tell anyone I'm here. I'll make it up to you with this!" She handed Danny an HM labeled 02. "HM02 is Fly. It will take you back to any town. Put it to good use!"

"Er, thanks!" Danny said, and he and Pikachu quickly left.

…

Back at the Celadon Pokémon Center, Danny taught his Pidgeotto the Fly HM. Then among leaving, he noticed a couple of familiar faces…

"Brock! Misty!" Danny said in surprise.

"You're Danny, aren't you?" Brock asked. "I remember our battle in Pewter City. What a coincidence meeting you here!"

"What are you two doing here?" Danny asked them.

"We're checking out the different perfumes being sold," Misty explained. "The boy from Pallet Town traveling with us claimed perfume was stinky, so we ditched him."

A Pikachu joined up with Misty and Brock. "Pika-pika!" it said.

Danny looked down. "Is that one of you guys' Pikachu?"

Brock looked down. "Huh? Oh no, it belongs to Ash, the boy from Pallet Misty mentioned."

Misty chuckled. "Even his Pikachu prefered to check out perfume than stick around with HIM."

Danny's own Pikachu walked up to Ash's Pikachu, and they sniffed each other a bit.

"By the way," Brock added, "we also met your brother, Billy. He was preparing to challenge Erika for a Rainbow badge."

"I just hope he doesn't make the same mistake Ash did," Misty commented, "claming perfume is a stinky rip-off."

Danny took a whiff of the air, noticing the perfume Misty had on. "Well, I actually like the smell of your perfume," Danny noted. "As long as it's chosen and used wisely, perfume can be very pleasant."

"Yeah," Brock said, now in a dreamy-sounding voice, "and it can definitely help with pretty girls." He let out a giddy, almost perverted-sounding laugh.

Danny gave a look. "What's with Brock?" he asked Misty.

"Oh, he has a weakness for women," Misty explained.

Danny looked down as his Pikachu and Ash's were talking "Pika pika"s to each other.

"So Ash's Pikachu doesn't like Pokéballs either, huh?" Danny asked.

"Nope," Brock said, coming back to his sense. "Pikachu was Ash's first Pokémon he got from Professor Oak."

"Same!" Danny said. "When my rival Butt Oak and I got to Professor Oak's lab that morning, the three main starters were gone because we were both late, but Oak gave me a Pikachu and Butt an Eevee."

"Ash also now has a Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle as well," Misty added.

"Neat," Danny said. "I got those as well during my quest, but now they are a Venusaur, Charmeleon and Wartortle, respectively."

"That's pretty neat," Brock said. "So what are you doing next?"

"Well, now that I have the Rainbow Badge," Danny said, "I'm going to go for either the Soul Badge or the Marsh Badge next, after I make a stop in Lavender Town."

"Ash already has the Marsh Badge," Brock pointed out.

"WHAT?!" Danny couldn't believe it. "He got the Marsh Badge before the Rainbow Badge? This Ash must be a better trainer than I am!"

"I wouldn't necessarily say that," Misty commented, rolling her eyes. "It's a long story, but maybe I'll explain it to you in an email or something."

"We're going to be on our way," Brock said. "It was nice meeting you again, Danny!"

"OK, see ya!" Danny said, waving goodbye as he started towards Route 8, his Pikachu following and waving as well.

"Pika!" Danny's Pikachu added.

…

Danny decided to see if the Route 8 gate to Saffron City had been opened yet. The guard stopped him, saying "Whoa, boy! I'm parched! I'm on guard duty."

Danny pulled out a few water bottles, saying "How about some fresh water? Direct from Celadon City."

"Huh?" the guard asked. "I can have this drink? Gee, thanks!" Danny handed the water bottles to the guard, whom instantly opened one and began glugging down some fresh water. "If you want to go to Saffron City," he said, wiping his mouth, "you can go on through. I'll share this with the other guards!"

And so Danny and Pikachu finally were able to get into Saffron City, the largest city in the Kanto region. But there were quite a few Team Rocket Grunts wandering around. That made Danny feel a little nervous. When he and Pikachu passed by the large Silph Company skyscraper, a Team Rocket Grunt guarding the entrance stopped Danny and said, "I'm a security guard. Suspicious kids I don't allow in!" So Danny and Pikachu continued on until they got to the other side of Saffron City and through the gate to Route 7.

TO BE CONTINUED


	10. A Ghost of a Chance

**POKEMON**

Chapter Ten:

A Ghost of a Chance

Now Danny and Pikachu were back in Lavender Town. There was still an uneasy feeling in the town's atmosphere. Now that they had the Silph Scope, they figured they could check out the big, creepy-looking Pokémon Tower. While it was sunny throughout much of Lavender Town, it looked like dark clouds were above the Tower. Danny let out a soft gulp, and he and Pikachu entered…

Inside the tower's lobby, there was a somber, sad atmosphere. The receptionist at the front desk explained to Danny, "Pokémon Tower was erected in the memory of Pokémon that had died."

"CHAAAAAAAA!" Pikachu shrieked, shivering in fear.

"Yeah, it's pretty grim," Danny admitted.

An upset-looking man told Danny, "I came to pray for my Clefairy…" He sniffled. "I can't stop crying!"

A red-haired woman somberly said "My Growlithe… why did you die?"

A girl came up to Danny and asked, "Did you come to pay respects? Bless you!"

As Danny and Pikachu approached the stairwell, a woman resembling a Shinto priestess told them, "I am a Channeler! There are spirits up to mischief! They've posessed several of my friends. Perhaps someone with a Silph Scope can help save them."

Danny looked down at Pikachu, trembling with his eyes closed, and said, "Well, Pikachu, we have a job to do. Plus, I can probably catch a ghost Pokémon here!"

But among arriving at the second floor, Danny and Pikachu saw Butt standing next to some Pokémon grave markers!

Pikachu saw him and screamed, "CHAAAAAAAAA!"

"It's Butt!" Danny gasped. "I hope he's all right."

But Danny worried for nothing. After approaching him, Butt said with his usual sneer, "Hey, Danny! What brings you here? Your Pokémon don't look dead! But I can at least make them faint! Let's go, pal!"

So naturally, they battled. Pikachu was brave enough to take down Butt's Fearow and Eevee with a Thunderbolt. And Danny had his Dugtiro defeat Butt's Magnemite, Venusaur defeat Shellder, and Wartortle defeat Sandshrew.

"What? You stinker!" Butt said in annoyance. "I took it easy on you, too! By the way, how's your Pokédex coming, pal? I just caught a Cubone! I can't find the grown-up Marowak yet! I doubt there are any left! Well, I better get going! I've got a lot to accomplish, pal! Smell ya later!" He left with a big sneer on his face, hiding his bitterness that he lost to Danny again.

…

Danny had to go to the Pokémon Center to heal his partners after that battle. While waiting, he overheard some people talking about how Team Rocket members killed a Marowak and orphaned her Cubone in the process.

A girl was telling everyone, "I saw Cubone's mother die trying to escape from Team Rocket!"

"Team Rocket will do anything for the sake of gold!" a Gentleman angrily declared.

"Geez," Danny thought out loud. "The more I hear of it, the worse Team Rocket sounds!"

…

After all of his Pokémon were healed, and Danny swapped his Dugtrio for Kadabra via PC, he was ready to return to Pokémon Tower. Danny knew the three kinds of Ghost Pokémon currently known were also part poison, weak to Psychic moves. It could be fighting fire with fire, or it may have been an advantage…

Danny and Pikachu returned to the second floor of the Tower and approached the stairwell leading to the third level. A channeler there said in a somber tone, "Even we could not identify the wayward ghosts! A Silph Scope might be able to unmask them."

"Glad I got one," Danny said to himself, and he took it out of his backpack and fastened it to the cap on his head.

Sure enough, among arriving on the third floor, which had a foggy look to it, they confronted a Gastly!

"Wow, let's catch this!" Danny exclaimed. "Pikachu, Thundershock!" he ordered.

Pikachu was more than willing to zap the Gastly a couple of times, not letting its' Lick stop him. Eventually, Danny was able to easily toss a Pokéball at the Gastly and capture it.

"All right!" Danny happily said. "We caught a Gastly!" He pulled out his Pokédex as the Pokéball automatically dematerialized to Oak's lab.

"Gastly," Dexter explained. "A Ghost Pokémon. It is said to appear in decrepit, deserted buildings. It has no real shape as it appears to be made out of a gas."

But then they came across a Channeler with a weird look in her eyes and a dead-looking expression. "Urrg… awaa… huhu… graa…" she was muttering.

"She's possessed!" Danny realized.

The Channeler tossed out a Pokéball, sending a Gastly at them! But Danny had his Kadabra defeat it with Confusion. That was when the Channeler snapped out of it and said, "Hwa! I'm saved!" Then she resumed the same somber manner the other Channelers Danny talked to so far, and said "The ghosts can be identified by the Silph Scope."

After wandering past the grave markers looking for the stairwell to the fourth floor, another Channeler with a weird expression leaped out at them, moaning "Be gone! Evil spirit!" She sent out a Gastly to attack, but Kadabra was able to kock it out with Confusion. The Channeler then came to her senses and said "Whew! The spirit left!" She glanced over to their side and explained, "My friends were possessed, too!"

Danny gave a determined look to his trembling Pikachu. "Come on, Pikachu," he said. "We've got some Channelers to save!"

…

It took some doing, but with each floor Danny and Pikachu went up on, they battled some possessed Channelers' Gastlys, and a few even had Haunters! A few of the Channelers even apologized for lashing out at them while being possessed after they snapped out of it.

On the fifth floor, one of the possessed Channelers moaned "Give… me… your… soul…" and sent out her Haunter! But of course, Kadabra was able to knock it out with Psybeam and save the Channeler, whom gasped as she came back to her senses. "I was under possession!" she explained.

Nearby, a Channeler that wasn't possessed stood next to a set of floor tiles that were different from the others. She told Danny, "Come, child! I sealed this place with white magic! You can rest here!"

So Danny and Pikachu stepped onto the purified, protected zone tiles and a white mist briefly surrounded them. After it dissolved, Pikachu and the other Pokémon were fully healed! Then they went back to saving the other Channelers from being possessed by their ghost Pokémon.

Eventually, on the sixth level, they came across a wild Cubone! Danny ordered his Pidgeotto to use Wing Attack on it, weakening it enough to be captured in a Great Ball! As it was transported to Professor Oak's lab, Danny grinned and said "All right! We got ourselves a Cubone!"

He got out his Pokédex again, and it said in its' robotic voice, "Cubone. The Lonely Pokémon. It wears the skull of its' deceased mother. Its' cries echo inside the skull and come out as a sad melody."

"Wow…" Danny said.

After freeing a few more channelers from possession by Gastlys, as they approached the stairs leading to the seventh floor, a deep, ghostly voice said "Be gone, intruders…" And sure enough, a lavender shapeless ghost with glowing yellow eyes appeared in front of them. Danny adjusted the Silph Scope on his cap, and then the ghostly apparition began to glow and change shape, taking the form of a Marowak!

Danny gasped. "It's the ghost of the Marowak that Team Rocket killed!"

He knew it couldn't be captured or left alone. The ghostly Marowak had to be defeated in order to depart to the hereafter. So he sent out his Wartortle to face it.

"Wartortle," Danny ordered, "use Bubblebeam on it!"

So Wartortle sent a stream of powerful bubbles at Marowak, through the TM from Misty that Danny taught him earlier, and that was enough to knock it out! Sure enough, the Marowak's spirit dissolved into a brownish-green haze that began floating upward. "It is time for me to go to the afterlife…" Danny heard the ghostly voice from earlier say, and watched as the haze went through the ceiling and vanished.

A Channeler oversaw what had happened. "That was the restless soul of the Cubone's mother," she explained. "You calmed her soul, allowing her to depart to the afterlife."

"Wow…" Danny said in amazement. But Pikachu was still scared, trembling in terror.

Then Danny and Pikachu went up the stairs to the seventh floor, the top of the tower. But once there, they confronted some familiar faces…

"Stop right there!" Jessie commanded, as she, James and Meowth left the old man they were keeping hostage approached Danny and Pikachu.

"Again?!" Danny said in annoyance.

"Grampa here wanted to complain," Jessie explained, "so we're setting him straight."

Now Danny was angry. "Did YOU TWO kill that Marowak?!"

"Who, us?" James asked. "No, that happened before the three of us brought Mr. Fuji here."

"But now that we're here, prepare for trouble!" Jessie said.

"Are you scared yet? Make it double!" James added.

"To protect the world from devastation," Jessie chanted.

"To unite all peoples within our nation," James said.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie finished.

"So render yourself invisible, or prepare to fight!" James added.

Their Meowth leaped in front of Pikachu and said, "Meowth, that's right! And now it's time for the battle!"

Danny immediately said, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" And Pikachu was able to defeat Meowth with one big zap.

As Meowth lay on the ground moaning in pain and defeat, Jessie announced, "And now comes our big surprise!"

"Surprise?" Danny asked, giving a skeptical look.

"For the first time here…" James added.

"We're proud to present…" Jessie continued.

"Our new Pokémon!" James finished.

Jessie held up her Pokéball as she said, "Our Ekans has evolved into… Arbok!" She tossed the Pokéball, and sure enough, the purple cobra Pokémon emerged.

"Charrr-bokah!" the Arbok hissed.

Danny sent out his Kadabra again and commanded, "Get it, Kadabra! Use Psybeam!"

Kadabra did as it was told, and knocked out the Arbok with one hit.

"NO!" Jessie cried out as she recalled the fainted Arbok into its' Pokéball, while Danny recalled his Kadabra.

But James was still confident. "And our Koffing is now Weezing!" He tossed his Pokéball, and a Weezing came out.

"Wee-ee-ziiing!" the two-headed toxic Pokémon choked.

"Go, Charmeleon!" Danny called as he sent out his fire Pokémon.

"Meeeleon!" Charmeleon said.

"Charmeleon, Ember!" Danny ordered.

Charmeleon shot some flames at Weezing, but despite being scorched a bit, it could still attack.

"Weezing, sludge attack!" James commanded.

"Wee-ee-ziiing!" his Weezing croaked, shooting purple-green sludge at Charmeleon.

"Chaaaar!" Charmeleon cried out, affected from the poison sludge.

"Don't let the poisoning stop you," Danny assured Charmeleon. "Use your Slash attack!"

Charmeleon swiped at Weezing with his strong claws, weakening it some more.

James let out a confident laugh. "Weezing, tackle!" he ordered. Weezing zoomed over to Charmeleon and knocked him over in the stomach.

"Charmeleon, another Slash!" Danny commanded.

With another Slash of his claws, Charmeleon was able to finally defeat Weezing!

"All right!" Danny said, pumping a fist.

"Charr!" Charmeleon cried out, doing the same. But Pikachu was still scared from being in the Pokémon Tower.

"You will regret this!" James said, not amused. Then he and Jessie both said, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" and they escaped out a window, but ended up falling straight to the ground on their backs!

"What dopes," Danny said to himself as he treated Charmeleon with an Antidote. Then he hurried over to Mr. Fuju and untied him. "Are you OK, Mr. Fuji?" he asked.

"Heh?" Mr. Fuji asked. "You came to save me? Thank you. But, I came here of my own free will. I came to calm the soul of Cubone's mother. I think Marowak's spirit has gone to the afterlife."

"Yep," Danny explained, "and I helped make that happen!"

"I must thank you for your kind concern!" Mr. Fuji said. "Follow me to my home, the Pokémon House at the foot of this tower."

Mr. Fuji got out an escape rope and they were able to slip carefully out the tower window and head to said house.

…

Inside the Pokémon Volunteer House, a boy and a girl were playing with a Nidorino and Psyduck. "Mr. Fuji had been praying alone for Cubone's mother," the boy explained.

The girl was hugging Psyduck, saying "It's so warm! Pokémon are so cuddly to hug!"

Danny walked up to Mr. Fuji, who said, "Danny, your Pokédex quest may fail without love for your Pokémon. I think this may help your quest." He handed Danny a wooden flute that was carved on one end to look like a Pokéball.

"A Poké Flute?" Danny asked.

"Upon hearing the Poké Flute," Mr. Fuji explained, "sleeping Pokémon will spring awake. It works on all sleeping Pokémon. It can be useful in battle, too."

"Gee, thanks, Mr. Fuji!" Danny said.

"Pikachu!" Danny's Pikachu happily added.

…

Back at the Pokémon Center, Danny was having Professor Oak rate his Pokédex over the video phone.

"So far," Professor Oak said, "you have seen 73 different types of Pokémon and have owned 31 types. Good, you're trying hard! Get an Item Finder from my aide! See you!" He hung up.

Danny turned to Pikachu. "I guess we're doing better than I thought we would!"

"Pi-pikachu!" his Pikachu agreed.

TO BE CONTINUED


	11. Safari So Goodie

**POKEMON**

Chapter Eleven:

Safari So Goodie

Danny and Pikachu rode a bus from Lavender Town to Celadon City's department store to buy a few more supplies before making the trek to Cycling Road, part of Route 16. Now that Danny had a Poké Flute, he could try to wake up the Snorlax sleeping in the road and capture it!

After leaving the store, Danny got on his bicycle and rode it down Route 16, with Pikachu holding onto Danny's back. Among arriving at the Snorlax, Danny pulled out his Poké Flute, tried a few scales, and then played a rather haunting melody that he had heard often used to wake up sleeping Pokémon on TV Pokémon battles. The Snorlax heard that, woke up, yawned and stretched, and then attacked in a grumpy rage!

Danny had his Venusaur attack using Razor Leaf. But after a critical hit, Snorlax used Rest, going back to sleep and regaining his health! So it took another hit of Razor Leaf while Snorlax was sleeping in order to weaken it enough to allow easy capture with an Ultra Ball. As it was being transported to Professor Oak's lab, Danny grinned. "We got 'im, Pikachu!"

"Pi, pikachu!" Pikachu cheered.

And of course, Danny pulled out Dexter the Pokédex once again to learn more about his new capture. It said, "Snorlax. This Pokémon will eat anything, even if the food happens to be a little moldy. It never gets an upset stomach."

Danny chuckled. "I hope Professor Oak doesn't mind!"

Then they went through the gate. Shortly after, Danny was on his bike, on Cycling Road!

"Hey, this is pretty fun!" Danny said.

But soon they began riding on a downward slope. "Whoooooaaaaaaaaaaa!" Danny cried out, going faster and finding it hard to steer in any other directions. They sped past a sign, at an even speed enough for Danny to read it. "'Notice. Watch out for discarded items?!' I'd better be careful!"

But a little ways downward in the slope, a biker stopped Danny. "Nice bike! How's it handle?" He said it as a lead-in to a trainer battle, sending out his Weezing first.

But Danny's Pikachu was able to take down Weezing with his electric attacks. Then he had Charmeleon battle the biker's Muk with Ember and Slash, not letting the Poison Gas stop him. "Shoot!" the biker said.

Danny then seized the opportunity to battle a few other trainers on bikes or motorcycles. After battling one biker's four Koffings and a Weezing with his Charmeleon, the biker growled, "Are you satisfied?"

But then Charmeleon began to glow. "Char?" he asked uncertainly.

"Oooh, you're evolving again!" Danny said.

Sure enough, he glowed a bright white and started enlarging and slightly changing shape and growing wings. Then the light faded, revealing he was now a Charizard! Pleased with his new form, he let out a blast of flames from his mouth. Danny and several other bikers and nearby trainers gasped in amazement.

Then Danny got out his Pokédex and it stated, "Charizard. The evolved form of Charmeleon. When expelling a blast of super hot fire, the red flame at the tip of its' tail burns more intensely."

"Cool!" Danny said. "Two evolved starter down, one to go!" He gave Charizard an antidote after the poison from the battle he just finished and returned him to his Pokéball. "Maybe Wartortle will soon evolve, too!"

Danny resumed cycling and battling other trainers. After Wartortle defeated another biker's Koffings and Kadabra beat the biker's Weezing, the biker exclaimed, "Crash and burn!"

Then Wartortle glowed and began to evolve as well!

"Oh boy!" Danny said, quite excited.

Sure enough, Wartortle evolved into a Blastoise! Danny checked his Pokédex, and it said, "Blastoise. The shellfish Pokémon. The evolved form of Wartortle. Once it takes aim at its' enemy, it blasts out water with even more force than a fire hose."

"This is amazing!" Danny exclaimed. "I know have the fully-evolved forms of all three starters Professor Oak would give to new trainers!"

Pikachu was also very pleased.

…

Finally, they arrived at Fuschia City. After healing up at the Pokémon Center, Danny and Pikachu did some exploring. First they checked out the home of the Safari Zone Warden. But the Warden just muttered "Hif fuff hefifoo! Ha lof ha feef ee hafahi ho. Heff hee fwee!"

Danny noticed the Warden had no teeth. "Ohh, you lost your teeth in the Safari Zone? When I go in there, I'll try to find them."

"Ah howhee ho hoo! Eef ee hafahi ho!" the Warden said, shaking Danny's hand.

Next door was a small cottage with a little pond in its' backyard. Danny checked out who lived in there.

"I'm the Fishing Guru's older brother," the man in the cottage introduced himself. "I simply LOOOVE fishing! Do you like to fish?"

"Yes," Danny said.

"Grand! I like your style! Take this and fish, young one!" He handed Danny a different kind of fishing rod – a Good Rod. "A crummy Old Rod could only catch Magikarp, yes?" he explained. "But with a Good Rod, you can catch much better Pokémon."

The Fishing Guru's older brother let Danny try out the Good Rod in his backyard pond. After casting the line and waiting a while, he felt a tug. "Ho! It's a hit!" Danny said in a goofy voice. Then he told Pikachu, "I read that in a book."

Danny reeled in a Goldeen and tossed a Great Ball at it, catching it easily!

"Cool!" Danny said, getting his Pokédex out to read about his new capture.

"Goldeen," Dexter stated. "The Goldfish Pokémon. When it is time for them to lay eggs, they can be seen swimming up rivers and falls in large groups."

As Goldeen was transported to Professor Oak's lab, Pikachu did his little fishing bucket joke again. "Pika pikaaa… PIKA!"

Danny laughed. "I still don't get it," he chuckled, "but it's still pretty amusing!"

…

Danny then decided to check out the Safari Zone he had heard about. An old man told him, "The Safari Zone has a zoo in front of the entrance. Out back is the Safari game for catching Pokémon!"

Danny grinned. He heard some rare Pokémon could be found in the Safari Zone!

They checked out the little zoo, seeing a Slowpoke, a Chansey, a Voltorb, a Lapras, an Omanyte and a Kangaskhan. Finally, Danny and Pikachu came to the catching area entrance.

"Welcome to the Safari Zone!" a cashier told Danny. "For just $50, you can catch all the Pokémon you want in the park! Would you like to join the hunt?"

"For sure!" Danny said excitedly, paying the $50.

"We only use a special type of Pokéball here," the cashier said, handing Danny 30 Safari Balls. "We'll call you on the P.A. system when you run our of time or safari balls. Good hunting!"

Danny stepped into the Safari Zone. It was such a large area with lots of grass, trees and water bodies. He turned to Pikachu and said, "This will be fun! But we also have to find the Warden's missing false teeth."

Through the trek, Danny caught a male and female Nidoran and an Exeggcute. He also noticed a sign: "Win a free HM for finding the Secret House!"

"Hmm, that sounds cool!" Danny said. "Let's look for that as well."

Upon reaching Area 3, Danny found a set of gold dentures on the ground. He immediately snatched them up. "Hey, here's the Warden's false teeth! All gold, too! He'll be so pleased."

Then Danny noticed a small house of some kind in the area, and he and Pikachu went in.

A man in a safari hat greeted Danny. "Ah, finally! You made it to the Secret House! Not many people have been able to do so. Congratulations! You have won this fabulous HM… Surf!" He handed the Hidden Machine labeled "03" to Danny. "HM03 is Surf!" the man explained. "Pokémon will be able to ferry you across water! And, this HM isn't disposable! You can use it over and over! You're super lucky for winning this fabulous prize!"

After the man registered Danny's trainer info into the Safari Zone Secret House winner database, Danny left the Secret House to use up the rest of his Safari Zone time and balls, in which he managed to catch a Rhyhorn! Before Danny knew it, the P.A. system started up…

"Ding-dong!" the system announced. "Paging Danny, time's up! Your safari game is over!"

So Danny and Pikachu were escorted back to the front, where the cashier said, "Did you get a good haul? Please return any unused Safari Balls, and come again!"

Danny was pleased with how things had been turning out with his time in Fuschia City. Pikachu was pleased as well. Then he returned to the Warden's house and gave him the gold teeth.

Among popping his dentures back into his mouth, the Warden said, "Thanks, kid! No one could understand a word that I said. I couldn't work that way. Let me give you something for your trouble." He handed Danny a Hidden Machine labeled "04."

"Oooh, another Hidden Machine?" Danny asked.

"HM04 teaches Strength," the Warden explained. "It lets Pokémon move boulders when you're outside of battle, like the boulder at the other side of the room. Oh yes, I take it you found the Secret House in the Safari Zone and won the Surf HM!"

"Yup, sure did!" Danny said proudly.

"Congratulations, my boy," the Warden said. "You're on your way to becoming a great Pokémon trainer."

…

Back at the Pokémon Center, Danny taught the Surf HM to his Blastoise before depositing it and the Strength HM into his PC. He also briefly withdrew the Fly HM to teach it to Charizard. After that, Danny and Pikachu went to the Mart, located awkwardly within the Safari Zone's zoo, and bought some Hyper Potions and Full Heals. Danny had overheard that the Fuschia Gym Leader, Koga, had some very high-level poison Pokémon, and thus wasn't sure if his own Pokémon were ready to take on them yet, so he decided to go and do some more training first.

Danny battled some Birdkeeper trainers around Route 18, and had his Pikachu defeat them all. He even managed to catch a wild Doduo and a high-level Rattata! Then he went back up Cycling Road and battled a few other Bikers and "Cueball"-type trainers. After Pidgeotto defeated one of the trainers, he began to glow white.

"Whoa, Pidgo!" Danny said. "You're evolving now, too!"

Sure enough, Pidgeotto grew larger while completely bathed in a white light, and then the light dissolved to xreveal he was now a Pidgeot! He spread his wings in triumph.

Danny got his Pokédex out, and it explained, "Pidgeot. The evolved form of Pidgeotto. This Pokémon flies at Mach 2 speed, seeking prey. Its' large talons are feared as wicked weapons."

"Awesome!" Danny said. "This is really helping out my Pokédex, and may also help in beating the tougher gym leaders! But despite the evolution, the heart that beats within remains the same."

"Pika-pi!" Danny's Pikachu agreed.

A little ways up Cycling Road, Danny even caught a Ponyta for his collection! Then he and his Pokémon made it to Celadon City, where they stopped at a Pokémon Center to rest for a bit, and then to Saffron City, where they got dinner at a pizza parlor. But there were still a lot of Team Rocket Grunts in the city, including one blocking the entrance to the Saffron City Gym. Next to that was a smaller-looking gym building with a sign in front, "FIGHTING DOJO. – Not affiliated with the Pokémon League."

"Hmm," Danny said. "Maybe I can train at that Fighting Dojo! Let's try it."

…

There were quite a few guys in karate outfits inside the Dojo. "Hohoh!" a blackbelt fighter said, noticing Danny. "You're tresspassing in our fighting dojo!" He sent out his Machop, but Danny had his freshly-evolved Pidgeot defeat it with Wing Attack. Pidgeot also beat the blackbelt's Mankey with Fly, and Kadabra beat the fighter's Primeape with Psybeam.

After that, another blackbelt said to Danny, "I hear you're good! Show me!" But his Machop and Machoke were no match for Pidgeot's Fly attack. "Judge! One point!" the blackbelt said.

The next blackbelt to battle Danny exclaimed, "Nothing tough frightens me! I break boulders for training!" But his Primeape didn't stand much of a chance against Pidgeot's Fly attack.

"Hoargh! Take your shoes off!" another blackbelt demanded. But Danny's Kadabra managed to defeat the blackbelt's two Mankeys and Primeape with Psybeam. "I give up!" the blackbelt moaned.

But then the final trainer Danny and Pikachu confronted was heftier-looking than the others. He grunted, "I am the Karate Master! I am the Leader here! You wish to challenge us? Expect no mercy! Fwaaa!" He sent out his Hitmonlee to battle.

Danny had his Kadabra use Psychic on the Hitmonlee, effectively taking him down. Determined, the blackbelt sent out his Hitmonchan, but Danny's Pidgeot defeated him with Fly Attack, not letting Hitmonchan's Comet Punch stop him!

"Hwarrrgh!" the Karate Master groaned. "Indeed, I have lost! But I beseech you, do not take our emblem as your trophy! In return, I will give you a prized fighting Pokémon! Choose whichever one you like!"

Danny chose the Pokéball containing Hitmonlee.

"You want the hard-kicking Hitmonlee?" the Karate Master asked.

"Yes," Danny replied.

"It's settled!" the Karate Master proudly said. "The Hitmonlee is yours!"

After saying that, the Pokéball dematerialized, and Danny showed the Karate Master via his Pokédex that Hitmonlee was sent to Professor Oak's lab. It also recorded the capture data…

"Hitmonlee," the Pokédex stated. "A fighting Pokémon specializing in kicking. When kicking, the sole of its' foot turns as hard as a diamond on impact and destroys its' enemy."

"Technology is amazing nowadays," the Karate Master admitted.

…

After that, Danny trekked to Lavender Town, where he met up with the Name Rater to get the nickname for his Pidgeot changed from "Pidgo" to "Pidgot." Then he headed down Route 12, over Silence Bridge. Along the way, Danny and Pikachu battled and defeated a few fisherman that wanted to battle with their water Pokémon. But eventually they came across another Snorlax sleeping and blocking their path! So Danny got out his Poké Flute and played the same tune as before, waking the Snorlax. But since Danny had already caught one east of Celadon City and didn't feel like battling, the Snorlax just let out a big yawn, jumped into the water and swam off.

"Huh," Danny said. "I didn't know Snorlaxes could swim."

"Pika…" his Pikachu agreed.

A little ways down the bridge, Danny saw a small house on a dock with "FISHING GURU" on its' mailbox. He and Pikachu decided to pay a visit…

"I'm the Fishing Guru's brother!" the Guru introduced himself. "I simply looove fishing! Do you like to fish?" 

"Yes," Danny said, getting a sense of déjà vu.

But this time, the Guru said "Oh no! I had a gift for you, but you have no room for it!"

"Please wait a bit," Danny said, as he and Pikachu then headed towards the direction to Vermillion City…

…

As Danny headed down Route 11, he ended up encountering a couple more trainers to battle, along with capturing a Drowzee for his Pokédex!

Danny was able to deposit and sell a few excess items he had no need for, along with briefly withdrawing a few Pokémon to bond with, train and evolve, including his Ratatta, whom evolved into Raticate, his Gastly, whom evolved into Haunter, and both Nidorans, whom evolved into a Nidorino and Nidorina, respectively. He also withdrew his Cubone. But at one point when going through the Underground Path, he came across a small girl who asked, "Hi! Do you have Cubone? Want to trade it for Machoke?"

"Sure," Danny said.

"OK," the girl said, leading them to a trading machine, where they made the exchange. But among getting the Machoke's Pokéball, it started wiggling in his hand.

"Go ahead," the girl said. "Open it."

So Danny opened the ball and let Machoke out, just in time to see it evolve into Machamp!

"Pretty cool, huh?" the girl grinned. "His name is Ricky, so call him that."

"Wow," Danny said, as he got his Pokédex out.

"Machamp," Dexter explained, "the evolved form of Machoke. One arm alone can move mountains. Using all four arms, this Pokémon fires off awesome punches."

"Thanks, pal!" the girl said with a smile.

…

Back at the Vermillion City Pokémon Center, Danny swapped his Machamp Ricky for his Kadabra again from Professor Oak, who was now quite proud to see Danny had so far owned 51 types of Pokémon! 

On the way down Route 11, Danny stopped to check out the observation deck in the border crossing building leading to the Silence Bridge. Up there, he met up with a certain scientist…

"Hi!" the scientist said. "Remember me? I'm one of Professor Oak's aides! If you caught 30 kinds of Pokémon, I'm supposed to give you an Itemfinder! So, Danny, have you caught at least 30 Pokémon?"

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," Danny said, handing his Pokédex to the aide.

The aide checked the Pokédex and gave a surprised smile. "Great! You have caught 51 kinds of Pokémon! Congratulations! Here you go!" He handed Danny the Itemfinder and explained, "There are items on the ground that can't be seen. The Itemfinder will detect an item close to you. It can't pinpoint it, so you have to look yourself!"

"Thanks," Danny said, taking off with Pikachu again.

…

Danny and Pikachu rearrived at the Fishing Guru's brother's house. "I'm back!" Danny announced.

"Grand! I like your style," the Guru said. "Take this and fish, young one!" He handed Danny a Super Rod, which was the next step up from the Good Rod. "Fishing is a way of life!" the Guru added. "From the seas to rivers, go out and land the big one!"

Danny was now able to continue down Route 12, which it later became Route 13. When checking out a patch of grass, he and Pikachu were able to come across a Farfetch'd!

"Wow, those are rare!" Danny said. "Let's catch it!"

So he did. As it was transported to Professor Oak's lab, Danny checked his Pokédex on the new capture, and it stated, "Farfetch'd. The wild duck Pokémon. It lives where reedy plants grow. They are rarely seen, so it's thought their numbers are decreasing."

"Pi, pikachu!" Danny's Pikachu happily said, pumping a victory fist.

…

Along the route, Danny and Pikachu battled a few more trainers, and tried out the Super Rod, where they managed to capture a Horsea! After battling a Picknicker and defeating her Meowth, two Pidgeys and Pidgeotto, Pikachu managed to learn the move Thunder!

"Wow! You totally won!" the Pickincker girl said.

"Great job, Pikachu," Danny said to his Pikachu.

But Pikachu replied with a "Piii-kaaaa!" and sent a Thunder jolt at Danny.

"OW!" Danny yelled. "You don't have to demonstrate it on ME," he reminded his Pikachu, who just laughed.

…

Going through Route 15, Danny was able to catch a Venonat for his collection of Pokémon. Then he came to another border crossing building, just outside of Fuschia City, also with an observation deck. Danny and Pikachu looked through the binoculars at the different sights, and then ran into another one of Professor Oak's aides!

"If you caught 50 kinds of Pokémon," the aide was saying, "I'm supposed to give you an Exp. All! So, Danny! Have you caught at least 50 kinds of Pokémon?"

"Already did," Danny said, handing him the Pokédex to look over.

The aide was impressed. "Great! You have caught 54 kinds of Pokémon! Congratulations! Here you go," he said, handing Danny the Exp. All helmet. "Exp. All gives experience to all the Pokémon with you, even if they don't fight. It does, however, reduce the amount of experience for each Pokémon. If you don't need it, you should store it via your PC.

"Thanks, sir," Danny said.

…

After arriving at Fuschia City again, Danny healed up his Pokémon and swapped his Pidgeot for his Snorlax. Then he returned to the Safari Zone Warden's house to demonstrate the Strength HM he had just taught Snorlax. He was able to have Snorlax push a large boulder that had been blocking a Rare Candy that the Warden let Danny take for his Pokémon.

Then after that, Danny and Pikachu did another run in the Safari Zone to find more interesting Pokémon. They were even to use the Super Rod and catch a wild Dratini! 

"Cool!" Danny grinned. "We got a Dratini! I heard they're pretty rare!"

As the Dratini was automatically transported to Professor Oak's lab, Danny pulled out his Pokédex, and it stated, "Dratini. A dragon Pokémon. The existence of this mythical Pokémon was only recently confirmed by a fisherman who caught one."

"Wow!" Danny was amazed.

"Pika pi," his Pikachu concured.

Danny even managed to catch a Chansey and a Tauros. But a Kangaskhan ran away with Danny's bait before he could catch her.

…

Among arriving back at the Pokémon Center, Danny was surprised to see his brother Billy also there!

"Hey, Billy!" Danny waved. "Check out the Safari Zone yet?"

"Not yet," Billy answered. "Just waiting for my Pokémon to be healed. My Graveler is pretty strong, and I want to evolve him into a Golem, but you have to trade to do it."

"Say," Danny realized. "I have a Graveler as well, along with a Haunter and a Kadabra, and they too can only evolve when traded. When our guys are healed up, why don't we swap our Pokémon with Professor Oak for the ones we want to evolve, and then trade to evolve them ourselves?"

"Oh?" Billy asked. "And then we can trade them back?"

"Yes," Danny was explaining, "because each Pokémon Center actually has a trading area where we can do the exchanging and evolving." 

A chime sounded, and the Nurse Joy at the main desk told Billy, "Your Pokémon are ready, Billy!"

…

After Danny and then Billy did the swapping from Professor Oak, they went up to a doorway that another woman was guarding. "Welcome to the trading area! Please apply here," she said. "Do you both want to trade Pokémon?"

"Yes," Danny and Billy answered in unison.

"OK, please wait just a moment," the woman said. She pushed a few buttons on the wall and the door opened. "Please enter," she said.

Danny and Billy went up to the trading machines. First, Danny and Billy decided to trade their Kadabras to each other. After they did, they had evolved into Alakazams!

"Look at that," Danny said, getting out his Pokédex…

"Alakazam," it stated. "The evolved form of Kadabra. A Pokémon that can memorize anything. It never forgets what it learns. That's why this Pokémon is smart."

Billy also had his Pokédex out as well, but it said, "Alakazam, a Psi Pokémon. The evolved form of Kadabra. Its' brain can outperform a super-computer. Its' I.Q. is said to be 5,000."

"Hey," Danny realized. "Your Pokédex gave a different description than mine did!"

"Huh, how about that," Billy said.

…

After trading their Alakazams back to each other, Danny had his Haunter and Graveler evolved into Gengar and Golem respectively via trading, and Billy evolved his own Graveler and Machoke into Golem and Machamp, respectively. Then they left the trading room, and deposted a couple of their evolved Pokémon back into Oak's lab for their usual partners. Danny kept his Alakazam out, for when he would battle Koga later on, since Koga was a master of poison-type Pokémon, and psychic types were strong against poison. Then Billy showed the Pokémon he had been traveling with for much of his journey, including his own Blastoise and Pikachu, a Pidgeot, a Graveler, a Rapidash and a Snorlax. Danny then showed off his own Pokémon party to Billy.

"That's very impressive," Billy said. "But now I'm going to the Safari Zone to see what Pokémon they have and win an HM!"

"Good luck," Danny said. And Billy recalled all of his Pokémon back into their Pokéballs and left.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
